Lyoko Warriors
by swaqdanny
Summary: Spurned and hunted by his parents, Daniel leaves the country to start a new life half way across the world. However, even darker secrets roam at his new boarding school. Will Danny and his new friends be able to stop the terrorizing evil? Will Danny find out that with his death, his fate is sealed to a life that neither him, nor his friends, could ever fathom?
1. Prologue

**So I decided to write a story where Danny is actually part of the Code Lyoko series, with his own set of problems as well. Kind of got the idea off the Ultimate Lyoko Warrior's _Code Phantom__,_ so a huge shout out/apology to him/her for anything that seems similar. Oh, inspiration.**

**Anyways, I also have the next chapter written as well, but probably needs some editing. This probably does too, but not as bad. It flows for me. **

******I rated this T because sometimes I can get a little... unfiltered. You know, language, blood, sexual tension... the usual.**

**Feel free to do whatever you please, but I probably will pay attention to reviews since this is looking like a really drawn out project. At first I was like "Yea all 96 episodes!" but that's just the Lyoko storyline. And with what I'm hoping to do with Danny... yea. I can't even comprehend. So, if you find that a few episodes are skipped over, don't start a rant. Danny being a ghost and all probably would have made the XANA attack in the episode completely pointless. So unless some episode in Season 1 has character drama, it probably won't happen. 2, 3, and 4 do have a plot line and seemingly build on each other, so it'll be harder to try to skip over those.**

**If I see something along the lines of "Why do you mention blah blah" I HAVE MY REASONS. Unless I respond back something along the lines of "oops that was just to be funneh" or "don't talk to me" then either continue reading or rage quit. It will be addressed later.**

**So, without further or do, it's time to introduce this crossover epic.**

* * *

**Lyoko Warriors  
**By swagdanny

"Was that the beginning, that evening?  
It's hard to know. Beginnings are sudden, but also insidious.  
They creep up on you sideways, they keep to the shadows, they lurk unrecognized.  
Then, later, they spring."  
― Margaret Atwood

_Prologue_

* * *

Elmerton wasn't known for its tourism. It was just a small podunk town located on Interstate 57, somewhat 50 miles north of Champagne, and 10 miles west of the suburbia Amity Park. Why Amity was chosen by the government and Fortune 500 owners, your guess is as good as mine. Elmerton was definitely more qualified for such honors, as Amity Park seemed to have almost nothing important of value. Everything that had to come and go from Amity had to pass through Elmerton.

Elmerton's exclusion on progress left it in the only position it could find; a pit-stop town. Gas stations lined up every corner, four corner blocks away from each other to avoid immediate competition. McDonald's, Subway's and any other form of fast business filled up the remaining area. If a business was to spend more than 5 minutes on a customer, then it would be swallowed alive by even faster ones. Because in Elmerton, it was get in and get out, or get left out.

With this factual philosophy, many small businesses had to retire. Most of the owners and their families left completely, looking for somewhere else to replant their roots. And because of the declining population of actual citizens, not one city official focused on those remaining. Many of these once outstanding citizens were left with base-wage jobs, for of many of these new, fast businesses hired only at the base salary.

It made living in Elmerton comparable to living in a slum. There wasn't even a community park for the children anymore. Vines crept up the side of homes and apartment buildings like leafy tentacles, stretching out to find the next window ledge to grasp. Water marks and other signs of decay were common if the vines weren't there to cover these injuries.

Elmerton wasn't a city anymore, nor even a town. It was just a destination. It was just a pit-stop.

And so not one traveling soul lingered at the city bus stop – anyone traveling would already have by car. Officials were thoughtful enough however, for those wanting to leave by bus, to put in a automated ticket vendor. Not for the ease of travel, but it was much cheaper than having employees there – even an employee doing all the other employee's jobs as well. The screen glowed at the destinations that could be reached from the depot – Champagne, Amity Park, and Chicago, another 85 miles going north on I-57. There was nowhere else to go besides these in Illinois. Payphones lined the wall next to the machine, untouched even when the bus stop was popular; for society had deemed it unacceptable to call for help or to just check in with the family.

The worn brass bell tied to the door handle twinkled lightly as a teen walked through. His clothes reeked of poverty – converses crusted with new, and old, dirt, dark jeans tattered around his knees and shins, and his once white sweatshirt displayed a battle between the two fashion disasters. Unnaturally natural white hair poked out from the hood, trying to hide the kid's eyes. But even the stray hairs couldn't stop the emeralds from lighting the darkness.

The teen groaned and flopped down on one of the sofas, too exhausted to care what might have inhabited it since the desolation of humanity from this place. His eyelids started to betray him, and when they closed, the panic ensued kept them open for another five minutes. He couldn't sleep. He was on the run. From whom you might ask?

Daniel Fenton was on the run from the world.

He groaned. Why did he have to be so interested in his parent's work? Why couldn't he just let his parents celebrate his birthday like any normal family would? September 5th was supposed to be the best time of the year. Today sure seemed to change that.

His hand cradled his face, the other hanging limply off his leg as he slouched over. He brought this upon himself, really. Why would you even bother working with equipment you didn't know how to work? Let alone equipment that was dangerous and unstable like a _ghost portal_?

Danny wasn't lying; his parents actually did build a ghost portal. In fact, his parents were the reason why the government and almost every major company in the world had zoomed in on Amity Park, leaving Elmerton to it's decline. They were the leading ghost experts of the world. And if the portal had worked, then it would have changed _the_ world.

It hadn't worked the first time. It was the day before, September 4th. His parents had put the finishing touches on it.

"Danny, my boy, what we are about to do is going to change lives forever" his dad yelled excitedly. "Why, when the portal opens, the first thing I'm going to do is grab some ghost and rip it apart, molecule by molecule, so we can study it and learn how to defend ourselves from such evil things."

"That's right, sweetie," his mother had said lovingly. "Just think of how this could improve society!"

Danny hadn't really cared, but because he loved his parents, he tried his best to be supportive. But the portal only sparked with electricity, its energy surging but never becoming stable. It had failed. He looked at his parents, only to see dejection in their eyes. There must be something he could do to get them in high spirits again before tomorrow, no matter how selfish it sounded.

It was around midnight. Danny slowly crept out of his room, cringing as the floor underneath him creaked under the weight. Tip-toeing down to the kitchen, he made a mad dash to the basement door, and then down to the lab. Dim lights kept the room from being completely dark, but on the wall at the end of the lab held the black, gaping hole. Danny gulped, and grabbing a white HAZMAT suit, he slipped it on. He silently praised God that his dad hadn't put his face on this one.

He stepped forward into the hole. He knew that he shouldn't be inside it, but there was feeling that whatever the problem was originated from inside here. His hand traced the wall to keep his balance and location in the dark, but his fingers suddenly brushed against something. And that something was pressed under the pressure.

He couldn't deny that it was supposed to be pain. Extreme heat was felt everywhere on his body, as if he was melting. His eyes saw nothing, only blackness. He didn't know if they were open or not. He knew his mouth was, the only thing he could feel was his throat hurting. But he couldn't hear the noise escaping. He couldn't feel anything except the heat. And then it was gone. Danny's body laid there, his mind still racing, but unable to move. He was in shock.

Maddie and Jack were thrown out of bed by the explosion. Both leapt off the floor, Jack heading to Jazz's room to see if she was okay, and Maddie to Danny's room. Her heart stopped when she saw the door open. She peeked around the corner, only to see an empty bed underneath the stick-up glow in the dark stars on the ceiling.

"Danny!" Maddie screamed, running downstairs. The room was lit in green, and she turned to the source. The lab door.

All of them tumbled downstairs to the basement to see the glowing green portal. But it wasn't the only thing different about the room. On the floor in front of the dimensional door was his body. Danny's. Maddie slowly walked up to him, fear etching her every movement in space. She slowly crouched down, and turned the body over.

Tears were streaming down the now alone boy's face. Jazz had cried, her baby brother hurt by their own parents. But they weren't done hurting him emotionally. Their faces of shock, of disgust. Their son, now a _ghost._ He was now evil, and he would need to be dealt with.

Exterminated. Ripped apart molecule by molecule. And why not work on a body that they knew _so _well?

The real world took shape again. Shadows around him stretched and grew, signaling the end of the day. Buses would stop traveling around this time. He looked over at the door. They were looking for him. He couldn't stop like the buses. But maybe for tonight…

He slowly pulled himself into the standing position, and dragged his feet over to the door. The memories still flashed through his head. He was glad he grabbed these clothes from his closet while he could, putting them on in a hurry. Someone would have looked twice if they saw a boy in a black and white gloved/booted HAZMAT suit.

Not that being covered in dirt was any better. He had crash landed too many times in the woods and plants below to even care. He never looked over himself physically. It just hurt. The pain never stopped, externally and internally.

He twisted the lock as the dead bolt found its hole. But he dared not move. He could see the shadows of his former parents walking past the building, ecto-guns aimed and ready. Danny slowly backed into the shadows to hide some of his glow.

"He couldn't have gotten far, Jack, did you see how tired he was?

"I know, Maddie, that's why we're checking these buildings. He has to be hiding." The man stopped at the door of the bus depot. Danny put a hand to his mouth, trying to control the fact that his breathing – while not need as much anymore, he realized that he still needed oxygen – was effectively increasing. Jack's hand rested on the door handle, and…

"Jack, Danny won't be in there. Why would he be at a bus depot? It's one of the most public places to be at, and he isn't trying to associate at this point."

The hand retreated from the handle. "I guess you're right. But if we haven't found him by now, we won't for the night. We can put a BOLO out on him when we get back. But for fact, our Danny's dead. It's time to plan a funeral. Maybe experiment on another ghost if one comes through. Weren't we lucky when that mistake fixed the portal?"

As the figures retreated, Danny slumped to the floor, and curled himself into a silent, sobbing ball. His parents… they called him a mistake? Something they don't want anymore? How could they just toss all the love they had for him aside like that?

If they wanted to be that way, fine. He needed to move on anyway. But Danny couldn't forget them the way they could forget him, no much how he would try.

One of the phones rang, making Danny jump. Payphones weren't suppose to ring… were they? Wiping his face, he eyed the ringing phone, and slowly inched towards it. He unhooked it, and lifted it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Ah, I see you finally answered, Daniel."

If Danny still had any blood, it would have run cold. "How… What… Who are you!?"

"Not of that is really important at the time. However, if you insist, you can refer to me as your Guardian. Yes, it is possible for ghosts – yes Daniel, I know – to have guardians. But I didn't call to explain that. Go to the desk behind the ticket booth window, and you will find some new clothes, a passport with a plane ticket, as well as a wallet with your new identity, a debit card, and 200 dollars in cash. The debit is infinite, as ghost money is, well, infinite, and should work find in replacing any sort of human cash."

"Why are you even helping me?"

"That will be revealed in time, young maître. Once you land, grab a taxi and tell them Kadic Academy. You will continue your secondary schooling there. Daniel, please be careful. Its cliché, but the future holds many paths for you. Try not to stray from the high road."

"But what is the high road?" Daniel spat, exasperated. Here he was, talking to someone who somehow tapped into a payphone. Someone who had been apparently following him since he became a ghost. Maybe even longer. Was he to trust him? A feeling kept pushing him to do so.

A click in the line told Daniel that the man had hung up. Sighing, he looked over to the abandoned ticket window. He could see the desk, and a cardboard box resting underneath it. Groaning again, Danny forced himself to phase through the wall into the room. He still wasn't used to it, being a ghost and all. It was all so new; he didn't know what to do or how to control his newfound abilities.

He opened up the cardboard box and sifted through it. Inside was a black sports jacket and a heather grey t-shirt, as well as some burgundy cargo pants. Danny set those aside for later, and took out the wallet. Sitting inside was the Visa debit, as well as two fifties and five twenties. He put that on top of his new clothes.

Finally he grabbed onto the dark leather book with the official passport logo printed in gold on top of it. He fingered the edge, wondering if he should accept this fate he was being put into. Trust seemed so hard to find after today. But seeing he had no other choice other than continue running, he opened it.

Inside was a plane ticket. "To Paris, _France_?" It would explain why the man had spoken French to him, which he confusingly understood. The man probably knew that he would become bilingual, too. He looked over the ticket and the new ID, rolling his eyes at his new name. What irony. He probably would have done the same thing if he had to create an alternate identity himself.

And for once in his life, Daniel Fantôme had never wanted the future to come so bad.

* * *

A blond haired kid walked passed a few brown-bricked buildings that he had been calling home. He sighed, pushing up his circular glasses. There was nothing here he could use for his robots, nothing of any sort of value. But the genius knew where to look.

He had become curious his seventh grade year, finding multiple tunnels of the school that went down to the sewers. The only passage the sewers had taken him was to the abandoned Renault factory. The now eighth grader smiled. Where there was a factory, there was bound to have some nice mechanics.

But nothing surprised him more than when he took an elevator down to what he thought would be an excess supply room. Instead, it was bare clean, with a super computer hanging from the ceiling. The thing in the middle of the room looked like a projector, but the genius knew underneath them somewhere was the nuclear mainframe, or the core for the big computer above.

Taking the elevator down again, he saw a room with four giant tubes that looked like scanners, somehow connected to the computer above. "Strange…" He thought, but it wasn't the mainframe. He continued down again.

The elevator opened to a freezing room. In the middle rose the towering black mainframe. There was a small door on the side, with a golden design; 3 circles with four squares coming out – one on the top, and three on the bottom. The small door opened up, and Jeremy pulled down on the handle. The computer hummed to life, parts of it glowing gold.

The blond boy traveled back up to where the actual CPU was located, and started messing with the controls. A screen popped up, and a 3D CGI of a girl with pink hair came to life on the screen. She was sleeping.

"What is this?" The blond asked aloud, trying to find out what caused the window to appear in the first place. The noise, however, seemed to wake the girl. The blonde gasped. The girl looked around the screen, and then at the boy.

"Hello? Who are you?... Where am I?"

* * *

**Ahhh! Prologue DONE! Hehe. Feeling much better than when I wrote that monstrosity of an AN before the chapter. OMG WHO IS THAT GUY THAT CALLED DANNY? WHAT DOES HE WANT? IS IT VLAD? AND WHAT DOES MAITRE MEAN? OR FANTOME? (I don't know the alt codes to do the accents with capital letters oops).  
**

**You can search if you want, but the maître result will leave you (hopefully) pretty clueless. However, fantôme is a dead giveaway, haha. I mean, come on. Phantom? Fantôme? IT'S IRONICALLY HILARIOUS DAMNIT.**

**Anyways, like I said, next chapter is done as well, will probably post it after I re-read it like the 8 times I did this, even doing so while I'm preparing to upload it as a chapter. Why can't I ever just write a page and be like "oh this is flawless!" all I see is "holy shit why am I writing." Oops. Anywhoo like I said before in my grumpy state FEEL FREE TO DO AS YOU PLEASE ITS NOT LIKE I WILL EVER NEED MOTIVATION OR SOMETHING *COUGH* ME AND MY PHANTOM ARE STARING STRAIGHT A (._.)**

:)

**BEFORE I FORGET DON'T MENTION HOW MADDIE AND JACK ACTED IM NOT GOOD MADDIE AND JACK WRITERS I JUST WANTED THEM TO DISINHERIT THEIR SON OKAY? **

**(_THIS CONTAINS A HALF-SPOILER) _PLUS I DON'T BELIEVE IN ETERNAL SADNESS (cough fics that contain any sort of suicidal!Danny will be the DEATH of all civilization) BUT DON'T GET ME WRONG IF DANNY SEEMS A BIT TOO PEPPY NEXT CHAPTER IT'S STILL THERE.**


	2. Beginnings

**It's 2AM and I can't sleep. So, instead of just laying in bed, I'm just going to leave this here... ;)**  
**THE THINGS I DO FOR LOVE**

**Oh and Fluehatraya; THANKS AT LEAST ONE OF US DOESN'T HAVE TO USE GOOGLE TRANSLATE *huff* JK I'm not mad at you, it's just a little secret in my prologue that won't be exploited for a whilee soo... (*.*)  
**

* * *

"The beginning is the most important part of the work." – Plato

_Chapter I - Beginnings_

* * *

'_I hopped off the plane at L.A.X,  
with a dream and my cardigan,  
welcome to the land of fame excess,  
am I gonna fit in?...'_

Danny unplugged the earphones from the AUX jack in his plane seat. Not that he had anything against Miley Cyrus, he just didn't want to think about the US. America. Illinois. His home.

Or what used to be his home.

However, the personal sky radio – and television – was a nice little complementary feature of business class; he didn't want to go luxury as it would attract too much attention for the fourteen year old, yet sitting on a plane for eight hours straight for a non-stop flight in economy… Danny shuddered. He looked at the guidance screen, warning that the plane was about to land. This was good, he needed to get away.

The plane ride taught Danny many things. For starters, he wasn't just bilingual, he was polyglot – fully functional in many languages. He understood the couple in business suits talking Mandarin behind him, about some venture with Toyota and Subaru, and heard the bubbly murmur of traditional Spanish from the family on a two stop plane ride back to Spain. All doing so while listening to the Dutch news. He couldn't wrap his mind around how they could understand him when he talked – he wasn't even sure what language he was using when he spoke anymore.

He also fell out of his seat, dropped him drinking glass – multiple times, and hit his head against the window due bursts of intangibility. Not only did the spilled drinks peeve the flight attendant, but the times where she would look for the boy for five minutes, continuously passing his chair, until she turned around and saw him sitting there looking like he hadn't move at all really did wonders to her anger. As he walked off the plane he was courteous and to her, all of which she grumbled back a rash "You're welcome." Danny couldn't blame her, eight hour plane rides were so taxing.

He didn't bring any bags, but he still had to travel through baggage claim to reach the airport exit and taxi pick-up. While passing by the revolving belts, a sign caught his eye. A sign that said Fantôme. He quickly tried to pass it off as another family, but the man holding it started to walk towards him.

Danny freaked. He started to run, but could only get so far before a strong grip caught his arm. "Daniel, don't make a scene. You are trying to be inconspicuous, right?" He recognized the voice. He turned and stared at the middle aged man, in a black tux and short black hair. Sunglasses covered his eyes.

"You were the one that set this up."

"Of course." The man said with a small smile, before ushering the white haired teen outside. "You know, I didn't know what to expect from the choice of clothes, but I must say it looks good. Much better than the dirt encrusted ones."

Danny rolled his eyes. But he couldn't lie to himself; he liked this style of clothing too. The black jacket was buttoned up halfway, leaving a triangle open to let people see the shirt underneath. His burgundy pants flowed down to his brown leather boat shoes that he got at the Chicago airport before leaving.

The man opened the passenger door to the black Lincoln, and gestured Danny to get in. He then walked around to the driver's door, pulled himself in, and soon took off.

"I thought you said to just call a cab."

"I changed my mind. Plus, I felt a little guilty for not properly explaining where you're officially going."

"I still don't really know what's going on, and if I am to trust you or not." Danny commented offhandedly as he looked out the window to the Paris buildings and sculptures. It really was a beautiful place, but was he really ready to call it his home?

"I think if you didn't trust your own Guardian, then you wouldn't have stepped on that plane leaving Chicago." The man took off his sunglasses, finally exposing his eyes. They were completely red. "Not that the other path would have had other paths back to that plane, but just getting on when you were told demonstrated you're on the path of faith."

"It's all that I can have, faith…"

"You will see in time that your confidence and trust will be rebuilt. But a crutch is what you need now. I was surprised that I could even interfere with your life."

"What do you mean?" Danny stared directly at the man. This was getting more confusing by the minute.

"I might be in control for right now, but I shouldn't have been in control at all. What this means will come soon enough." The man bit his lip. He almost slipped again, but luckily caught himself before he called young Daniel maître again.

"Fine." Danny huffed, looking out the window again. "So what's Kadic again?"

"Kadic Academy. Part of the Paris suburb, Sceaux. Built in the 1900's, Kadic is a boarding school for some of those with a considerable amount of money – "

"Great, I'm surrounded by French snobs."

" – while many others are here on scholarship or for day-classes. You're American studies have only readied you for their eighth grade level, though. And Daniel, you shouldn't judge based on first impressions. It's hypocritical of you to do so. Plus, you're now technically a 'French snob' too."

Danny face palmed. He literally waltzed his way into that one. "So are you saying I'm staying here at this _Kadic Academy_?"

"Yes. While I'll be officially and unofficially checking up on you time to time, you won't receive much visitation. With a fake name, and a private boarding school you're attending, finding you will become next to impossible. Just know this. _Daniel Fantôme _is to not leave school grounds. You should be able to realize what the consequences are if this happens."

Danny nodded. He knew. He wanted to protect his new chance at life. His new chance to start over.

The car slowly stopped and his guardian put it in park. "It's time for you to start school, Daniel. Now to imitate a concerned parent, '_I love you, Danny. Always write back okay? And do something about that hair, you won't find any girls that way.'_" He smirked. "Not that your new looks would be a problem." Danny was aware of this. Half of the economy class – men included – goggled over him as they passed by to sit in their seats before takeoff. He had been squirming under the attention.

He got out of the car, taking in the gated school in front of him. The buildings were brown brick, with evenly spaced windows wrapping around them. The huge three story building that seemed to envelop the rest of campus was what he assumed was the dorms. He saw kids of different shapes, color, and sizes walking around and through the courtyard. He saw a green-clad brown haired boy, silently sitting next to a tree, while a tall black-haired girl fawned over him from a distance. A blonde haired kid with a blue sweater was walking into the woods.

A girl of Japanese heritage passed in front of him, walking through the gate. She was dressed in all black. Danny's chest constricted a little. "_Sam_," he thought, sighing.

He looked back into the car, noticing that the man driving had not moved from his seat. "Are you coming?"

"No, I've been with you long enough. They're getting impatient." The man smiled knowingly before reaching over to close the door and take off.

Danny sighed. "How am I to get myself registered without his name…"

A breeze swept through the street, cuddling Danny. Then a voice whispered next to his ear. "My name is Richard Geer, and everything is as it should be right now…"

* * *

Jean-Pierre Delmas shook his head. Being principal of this boarding school was going to kill him. Over-exaggerating of course, but the first day back for the students boarding was always hectic. Not only that, but there were seemed to be more new student that would be boarding than usual. And one was from America! He shook his head again, wondering how the school's name had gotten that far out there. He knew he should have felt proud; but how did his school attract attention from America?

The door to his office opened as he looked up and mentally sighed. This new student obviously did not live up to his expectations. First of all, the kid had snow white hair. It was dazzling, so pure. He wondered if his graying hair would be like that. But no regular kid had white hair. It had to be dyed. So the kid wasn't the normal, obeying type. Second was the tan. His daughter had a tan too – it signified the lack of respect for education. He knew that he would be seeing this kid more often that he should.

He shoved this away to appear neutral as possible. "Hello, I'm Principal Delmas; and you must be the new student from America. Daniel…

"-Fantôme, Daniel Fantôme."

Delmas blinked. "Fantôme, huh? That's French, wouldn't your last name be something more American… and not as supernatural?"

This seemed to irritate the boy. "It's not like I had a choice of what my name was going to be."

Delmas sighed. His predictions were correct, the kid will be in his office more than they could both imagine. With an attitude like that…

"Daniel, where's your parents?"

The boy stiffened. "They… aren't here. My guardian brought me."

Delmas also became uncomfortable. Oops. Nobody told him that his parents were dead. "I'm sorry for your loss, but then where's your guardian?"

He was surprised to see the boy move as if he was laughing silently. Then "He dropped me off. He…" the boy paused, ears twitched as if he was listening for something. Then, "...said he called you earlier, and that my papers were faxed to you. His name's Richard Geer."

Richard Geer… oh my. That smooth talking criminal was the boy's guardian? Delmas had instantly liked him within the first five minutes of conversation. He did ask if any of the rooms were open for availability, which Delmas had instantly replied yes. How could he skip up on someone coming from that silky-voiced right-minded man?

"Yes I remember now. I had already prepared everything for your admission." He sighed. He knew he signed himself into this one. Now he had to keep him until he graduated. "One of our campus supervisors, James Moralés, will show you to your dorm. There you can unpack your stuff." It the kid had any. He didn't see any bags in the hallway when Daniel walked in.

"Thanks Principal Delmas." Daniel replied in a monotone, turning towards the door. How Delmas would be so glad to get this interview over. The room had started to get cold, and he desperately wanted to get some fresh air after this. However, Daniel turned back around. "May I ask you a question?"

Delmas blinked purposely again. "What would you like to know, Mr. Fantôme?"

"If I do receive my own dorm room… Am I able to decorate it in any way? Like order stuff from a catalogue, paint, et cetera…"

What a weird question. There weren't any rules against this, yet no student seemed to take advantage of it until now. Maybe Daniel was the artistic type. Maybe this would be an outlet for him, even if it was school property...

"You may, Daniel. But I wish it to be returned to normal when you graduate from here. And don't spread that I'm allowing you to do this."

A smile crept onto the boy's face. It almost made Delmas want to smile. Why hide such a smile behind a frown after all this time in here?

"Thank you, Mr. Delmas."

And with that Daniel left the office. The room temperature suddenly returned normal again, but Delmas didn't notice as he sunk further into his chair. What to think of Daniel Fantôme…

* * *

Danny sauntered through the open corridor. He didn't have classes for the next week, so he took this time to memorize the school grounds. It was fairly easy to remember – the dorms made a U around a courtyard that also held the administrative and educational buildings. The track and athletic complexes stood east of the Southern wall, leaving the courtyard to open into the park. The entrance into this private area was in the north-east corner of the courtyard.

But knowing his surroundings was not what Danny was doing. He was trying to find that blasted supervisor. Sure, he thought the man would look professional, but asking another adult gave him the information that the supervisor was the _gym teacher_, meaning the man could be anywhere.

He turned the corner to run into a somewhat plump man. He was in his thirties, with short brown hair, a red jacket with a white shirt underneath, as well as black shorts. The long white socks alone made the man comical, as well as the bandage underneath his left eye.

Danny tried to stifle a giggle as he got up. "Hey, sorry sir, I wasn't really paying attention…"

"YOU! SHOULDN'T YOU BE IN CLASS?"

Any humor that Danny had before was gone. "No," he scoffed. "I'm new, and not from around here. They gave me a week to settle in. But I can't settle in to an actual room until I find that dumb supervisor slash gym –" Danny realized who he was talking to. He face palmed, sighing. "– teacher…"

Mr. Moralés looked at the teen, realizing that he really didn't know him. He shrugged. He kind of deserved what the new kid just said. "No hard feelings, kid. Yea, I'm Mr. Moralés, but you can just call me Jim. Mr. Delmas did say that we had a new kid coming." He tried not to stare directly into the kid's eyes. That pure white hair of his already shined enough – his eyes were a blinding green. Plus the kid would find it awkward if Jim couldn't ever seem to stop staring at him.

Jim started walking to the dorms, motioning for Danny to follow. "I checked over the dorm list and, unfortunately, you will have an empty dorm." He didn't notice Danny silently fist pump the air. "Now I know that you probably would have wanted somebody – "

"No Jim, that's great, actually." Jim looked back at a smiling Danny, and noticed the mischievousness in the kid's eyes. Great, another trouble maker, and with nobody in his room to stop him. What would he be doing in there anyway? Mr. Delmas said the kid was allowed to redecorate it…

"Just as long as you comply with the rules, there shouldn't be any problems… " Jim stopped in front of a door in the corner of the second floor dorm hallway. "I don't think you gave me your name. What was it again?"

"Danny -, well Daniel Fantôme."

"Well Mr. Fantôme," Jim announced, holding out his hand, "I will be expecting to see you more often the rest of the year. You are taking Gym, right?"

Once again Danny stifled a laugh at the irony, "Yes, Jim, and thanks." He took and shook Jim's hand, but stopped and pulled back when Jim's face jerked upwards a little.

Jim rubbed his hand. "Wow, that's a nice, strong, cold grip you got th – " Danny slammed the room door on Jim's face.

* * *

Mrs. Hertz's eighth grade science class slowly trickled into the door. In the front sat Jeremie Belpois, kid genius at age 12. Blonde hair swept around his head, sometimes coming down to meet the round frame of his glasses. He pushed them up – it was a force of habit to do so. His blue sweater was out of place as it was still somewhat hot outside, and his tan pants only stopped above his ankles, like capris. No one took the seat next to him.

Behind him was Ulrich Stern, a silent 14 year old that seemed to be adored by general masses. His short brown hair clipped off at what seemed to be the perfect spot on his forehead, and his facial bones were held tight by skin. His rugged appearance displayed his physical versatility.

Ulrich was staring off into the distance, paying no heed of attention to those around him. He hated being here. Brooding, he didn't notice the blonde, long haired kid with the purple square dyed into it until it was too late.

"Uh, are you Ulrich Stern?"

He looked over at the kid. Apparently purple was his favorite color, because just like that spot in his hair, his pants and shirt were the same color hues as well. Out-of-place brown loafers peeked from underneath the two-tone garments.

"That depends, who wants to know?"

"Odd Della Robbia, that's who!" Odd casually slid into the seat next to Ulrich, a grin plastered on his face. "And your brand new roommate!"

"What!?"

Odd shrugged. "I'm new at the Academy, and the Principal told me to move in with you."

Ulrich raised an eyebrow. Nobody was this open and casual around him. "Latch on to me is more like it."

"Relax! I'm totally cool. Trust me, you won't even know I'm there."

"I sure hope so." Ulrich deadpanned. "Look, we don't exactly go way back, so just for now, let's take things nice and slowly, okay?"

Odd put his hands up in mock defense. "Okay! Nice and slow…"

The black haired girl that had been creeping on Ulrich in the park earlier strolled in through the door, later than her fellow peers. Arrogance made the air around her rancid. She stopped at the bickering boy's table.

"Hi there, Ulrich sweetheart! I got very important to tell you."

"Important like, uh, I lost my mascara, or my pink t-shirt ran?" Ulrich sarcastically questioned. He was being cold to everyone today. He just didn't want to deal with this attention.

If the girl recognized anything from Ulrich's previous statement, she didn't show it. "Noo, no, nothing as serious as that! It's something about you and me, Ulrich! If you wanna know more, come by my dorm at eight. I'm counting on youu!"

Odd watched the girl leave the two. "Ulrich," he quickly turned around with a grin on his face and winked. "Sweetheart? Who's the good looking babe?"

Ulrich groaned internally and looked sideways at Odd. "Sissi," He deadpanned once again. "She's the principal's daughter. Guys flip over her but she's only flipped over me."

"That's pretty cool!"

"Cool?" The hand on his face turned into a half fist, irritated. "She's totally brain-dead, and a leech as well."

Odd, noticing tension again, quickly replied "Well, in that case, it's pretty lame."

Ulrich mouth turned into a small smirk before the Professor began the lesson.

* * *

Danny looked out the windows into the courtyard below. He realized his senses had greatly advanced in his death as well, hearing the ringing of the school bell that recognized the end of class. He saw the boy with the green jacket again, being trailed by some kid dressed in all purple trying to get his attention. Obviously, the green jacket kid wasn't too happy about it.

He sighed, sitting back down in the school provided study desk. Lying in front of him were furniture catalogues, as well as the paint codes he wanted. But he was looking at those anymore.

His head rested in his palms, fingers nervously sliding through his hair. Hiding himself in plain sight will be much harder than he thought, if he can't control his power, nor the fact his body will now be ridiculously cold to any human he comes in physical contact with.

His stomach grumbled, signaling his time for lunch. Apparently his need to eat hadn't disappeared.

He opened his door and took down the hallway, stuffing his hands in his pants. He started to whistle, letting his breath escape between the moving slit between his lips. It was to the tune to something that was on the radio during the ride over with Richard (he had chosen Richard because just saying Mr. Geer or even Guardian was just awkward). Changing the whistle to a soft vocal performance, Danny whisper-sung

"_Here we are, going far; to save all that we love  
If we give all we've got, we will make it through  
Here we are, like a star, shining bright on your world today...  
Make evil go away…"_

By the time he finished he was already standing at the door of the cafeteria, and pushed it open.

He soon realized his mistake of even coming down. Half of the cafeteria seemed to go silent staring at him, with wondering, yet critical eyes. Danny was internally cringing. He never had this kind of attention before, and he definitely didn't want it now – especially being able to hear every word said.

"Dude, who is that? I never have seen him before in my _life…_?"

"Are you sure you don't have classes with him? He looks like your age…"

"Why is his hair white? It's so unnatural. Who even colors their own hair after an old man…"

"Naw, the hair is pure white like snow. Maybe he's emo or something…"

"Do you see any cuts on his arms?"

There were snickers here and there at comments made. But when the kids looked back, the unwelcome teen was gone, door swinging widely to and fro.

Danny didn't bother running for long. Willing himself invisible and intangible, he flew wildly back in the general direction of his room. He was losing control. He heard the sudden gasps and shivers of students who were chilled when he passed close by. But he didn't care. He wanted his bed. He needed it. And he would never leave it.

The sudden familiarity of his four walls stopped him, and he crashed down onto the comforter. Glistening trails ran down from his eyes, only to be cleaned up with a back wipe of his hand. Why was he even here to begin with? How was this any better than being on the run in a country he at least knew about? God, why couldn't his parents just at least accept him? He wasn't evil, if they only gave him the chance…

A large thunk sounded upstairs above him, as well as some girls screaming. He ignored them, tending to his own emotional wounds, but was jolted by multiple thunks afterwards.

"Okay then, I think two girls are having a little too much fun above me."

He forced himself intangible and invisible again, and floated through the ceiling. However, he didn't see any girls there (disappointment). Boxes were thrown all over the room, the packaged items scattered everywhere. Obviously they were unpacking, but why the mess?

"BEWARE!"

Danny jumped and looked up. A glowing, blue skinned man was floating in the air. He was stubby and plump, dressed like a blue-collar worker with overalls and a grey beanie. Obviously this was another ghost. Not knowing how to deal with the situation, he gulped quickly looked around, and slowly began.

"Uhm, H-Hi there,… ghost? What are you doing?"

The glowing man grinned, before screaming. "I AM THE BOX GHOST! I HAVE POWER OVER ALL CONTAINERS CARDBOARD AND SQUARE!" He raised his hand, and a couple rather large boxes floated up around him. "AND NOW, HERE I AM TO SEAL… YOUR DOOM!"

The boxes flew at Danny, knocking him over. They didn't have anything in them, but…

"OW!" Danny proclaimed, rubbing his arm were his arm made contact with a rather sharp object. He removed his hand to see the cut, but only to find it now as a swollen bruise. However, a mix of green and red liquid was on his hand.

He looked over at the Box Ghost, only to find the ghost frozen in place, fear yet curiosity in his eyes. He held out his hand. "Hey, is this ghost blo – what are you doing." Danny questioned but then deadpanned, seeing the Box Ghost literally fly back in cowardice.

The Box Ghost started at the boy. "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO ATTACK THE BOX GHOST?"

"Why? And could you stop yelling?" Danny rolled his eyes. "Even though you attacked me, it was just boxes. Just tell me if this is ghost blood or not." He looked over at his arm again, only to find the swollen bruise significantly smaller. Seems like he could heal fast as well.

The pudgy ghost huffed in annoyance, before swooping down right in front of the boy. Danny didn't even flinch at the movement. He looked over the boy, inspecting every detail of him. Danny was a little creeped out, but the feeling was replaced when something pinched his leg. "Ow! What are you doing!? Are you even going to answer my question?"

The Box Ghost huffed indignantly. "YES…" Danny's eyes flashed, and the ghost quickly lowered his voice "…and yes, sort of." He floated to Danny's eye level, and stared at him for a moment. "Do you know what you are?"

Danny scoffed. "Duh. A ghost, like you."

"Interesting…" The Box Ghost slowly turned around and floated out, not before contorting his face to the stupid expression from earlier and once again shouting "BEWARE!"

He stared at the wall, and then sighed and shook his head. "What a stupid ghost… but what just happened?" He heard a knock on the door, and quickly phased back down to his floor and room; cringing at the thought of Jim reprimanding the girls for something they didn't do.

* * *

It was later in the day. Danny had filed the incident with the Box Ghost in the back of his mind, signing it off as just a random occurrence. He was still hungry, so he made out of his door into the hallway invisible. He couldn't afford any more attention like he did at lunch today. He grazed over the school to find vending machines.

Jackpot. Underneath a canopy there were the regular candy and soda vending machines, but the third one was something else. It dispensed soup and other juices. "Only in France," Danny smiled, pressing the button for chicken noodle. Grabbing a bottle of water as well, he flew back to the dorm to eat.

He didn't see Jeremie Belpois get electrocuted by the same machine only two minutes later.

_~Time shift ahead like 5-6 hours~  
_

Danny put his water bottle down next to his finished plan. He smiled at the design; it was what he always wanted in a room. And better yet, he was free to do with it as he pleased. He looked at the ceiling, dreaming…

Another noise brought him back to reality, except it wasn't a thunk from above. It was a crash from outside his door. He walked to the door and opened it, and the hallway revealed nothing. But another crash and a scream averted his eyes to the room across from his. "It better not be the Box Ghost again," Danny sighed. He quickly opened the door.

Two robots were attacking the blue sweater kid from earlier. Danny went into a defensive stance as one turned and flew at him. He ducked, hearing the machinery whistle over his head, and swiveled on one foot as the other came up and around, knocking the robot out of its flight path and into the kid's cabinet, breaking it in half.

The other, noticing it's now-down companion, quickly rushed Danny. He jumped, and shifting his weight in the air, both feet planted down onto the final robot, crushing it. The smell of smoke lingered in the air, but the still open door allowed greater access for its dissipation. He looked over at the shaken boy.

"So I'm guessing robots attacking are not a daily occurrence for you?"

This seemed to bring him down to Earth, he looked over at Danny. "N-no, I don't – "

"What's going on in here!?"

Both of them looked over to see the green jacket teen. He looked more at Danny than blue sweater boy, as if daring to ask if he actually caused this.

Danny scoffed inwardly, then replied "I heard screaming, as well as you probably did."

Jeremie blushed in admittance and shame. Danny gazed sharply at Ulrich, who winced slightly Oh, he _did_ blame Danny for this kid's screaming. "I opened the door to find those robots attacking him, so I took care of them."

"_You_ did?" Ulrich looked at the still smoldering remains, looking impressed. Turning to Jeremie, "You're little friends are kind of aggressive, Belpois, maybe you should check their settings."

"I had nothing to do with it!" The kid named Belpois proclaimed breathily, still winded. Danny noted he probably didn't exercise much. Well neither did he. Beforehand. "They just attacked me all of the sudden."

"You lost me. You mind explaining?"

"No, no… forget it." Hell, like Danny could forget he just had to save this kid's ass. But he remained quiet. Those karate lessons really did just save him and this Belpois kid. Mom's karate lessons. Mom… why? He succumbed into the memories of the mother-son time while training, which happened weeks before the accident.

Ulrich wouldn't stop though. "Come on, tell me. Maybe I could be of some help. What if you suddenly get attacked by a hair dryer when I'm not around?" Ulrich didn't know why, but he really wanted to know Jeremie. The kid was just like himself; quiet, shy, not that many friends. It was just that he was a super genius and Ulrich… was not.

Ulrich looked over to see if that white haired kid caught the jab he threw in, but the teen didn't even seem to acknowledge him or Jeremie at the moment.

"Ha, very funny." Jeremie turned to his computer, once again having control over it. Why did that symbol appear before the attack?

"I'm not leaving this room until I know what's up." Ulrich sat in Jeremie's chair, arms crossed. He saw Jeremie turn back around to face him and the third teen, whom finally seemed to be back in reality. "Nice of you to join us again, bleach-head." Danny shot him a withering glare.

"Okay." Jeremie spoke up again. "What do I got to lose? I'm already in over my head, so I might as well tell you guys… it's just so crazy…"

He closed his door and looked back at Danny and Ulrich. "Tell me if you guys can keep a secret."

* * *

"Look, Boxy, if you're pulling my tail…"

"THE BOX GHOST NEVER PULLS TAILS!"

"… I will end your afterlife with a short couple strings. There will be no stupid boxes to save you. GET IT!?"

The Box Ghost gulped. "YES SIR! I MEAN, uh…"

A giant purple fist shot Box Ghost away from the flaming haired teen girl. She slowly strummed her guitar, thinking. The ghost world couldn't deal with another one of _those_. But if what Boxy said was true…

Everyone in the Ghost Zone knew that a new Ghost was supposed to be here. So where was that new brat? How had nobody found him? How did the _Box Ghost_ of all ghosts find him? And the kid didn't attack back? Despite how powerful he is – or the claim he is to be?

Curiosity got the best of her. She flew off to find a natural portal that opened near where the Box Ghost told her. She will meet this white haired teen and judge for herself. Nobody will need to know – they'll think she's just doing another concert again. But that _ghost_ will not find the dipstick before she does.

Not if her name wasn't Ember McLain.

* * *

Richard Geer floated there, in the middle of the Ghost Zone, hand on the Box Ghost's head. Yellow energy lit the space between contact.

The yellow light dying, he removed his hand, and then asked "Now, Box Ghost, where were you today?"

The Box Ghost, dazed, shook his head to clear his thoughts. "THE BOX GHOST WAS IN... CALIFORNIA!" The blue ghost smiled, before continuing. "I HAD CONTROL OVER THE BOXES OF EVIL – GIRL SCOUT THIN MINTS! THE TERROR ON THE PUNY HUMAN FACES!" He floated off, screaming "BEWARE" at a black and red dragon, which followed suit – spewing ghostly flames at the now quickly retreating figure.

Richard frowned, before his appearance changed – he was now an old man, donned in purple robes. A staff with a clock on it materialized in his right hand.

He teleported back to a purple tower, and stared into a monitor. It was positioned on Ember, as she flew through the Ghost Zone looking for a natural portal to France. The image quickly switched to others of Daniel, and Richard finally smirked, his form changing to that of a five year old.

"As it should be."

* * *

**OKAY I LITERALLY JUST THREW IN THE LAST PART ABOUT RICHARD BEING CLOCKWORK BUT COME ON THERE WERE PLENTY OF HINTS IN THIS CHAPTER ALONE WHO HE WAS. IT'S LIKE HOW WE KNOW THAT SEVERUS SNAPE IS ACTUALLY GOOD WHILE HARRY POTTER THINKS HE'S ALL EVIL AND SHIT UNTIL SNAPE DIES.**

**Sorry if it get's a little confusing during the whole scene with Jeremie/Ulrich/Danny. I wrote in a way where the viewpoints kept switching between Ulrich and Danny (Jeremie had one useless viewpoint but he had to have one) and that's why Danny would be referred to as 'white haired kid' or Jeremie as 'blue sweater boy' or Ulrich as 'brown haired kid'/'green jacket kid' BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T BEEN INTRODUCED TO EACH OTHER YET IF YOU JUST SKIMMED THROUGH THE PAGE UNTIL THEN SO ULRICH AND JEREMIE DON'T KNOW DANNY'S NAME AND VISE VERSA.**

**Ember is only playing a minor role, for now... hehe. She might have a memory swap as well. or maybe not :3**

**What, you think I would leave Danny loveless while basically every single one of the original members (SPOILER IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE NEVER SEEN CODE LYOKO) dates at least someone. It just wont be a DannyxAelita / DannyxYumi. maybe it's like, hmm, idunno, SOMEONE FROM DANNY PHANTOM. wink wink.  
**

**AND YES I KNOW PRINCIPAL DELMAS IS OOC BUT DAMN THAT WAS FUNNY TO WRITE SO I'M KEEPING IT. hopefully you liked it too ;) I might just keep Delmas's thoughts OOC for the hell of it - comedic relief is always a good breather type for me.**

**and that's basically it. i'll try to finish up the next chapter in a coupe of days - I REALLY don't want this to go under unannounced and then announced hiatus like every single well written story that I've really liked like really how hard is it to continue a freaking Pitch Pearl about Phantom working at NASA and a surprise visit from Casper High School and omg DANNY FENTON IS THERE. Sorry but you obviously know now whom I really would ship in a heartbeat. and while no actual SLASH may happen, there might be some ONE SIDED SLASH. but that's later. MUCH LATER. I still haven't even finished the pilot episode merger (this chapter only got 15 minutes into the hour long pilot sigh) but then again most of it was fluidly moving Danny into Kadic and then setting up the second main storyline so WHATEVER.**

**I'M WORKING HARDER THAN TRYING TO FIND A SNICKERS BAR IN WHOLE FOODS SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME.  
**

**(oh and i didn't check over this paragraph as thoroughly as the prologue so yea if you see something just tell me some way or another)**


	3. Beginnings, Part II

**Walk up to the club like whaddup i got an awesome fic(:**

**Hey so, I realized just how awesome my last two paragraph's were - this one just felt kinda... meh. Then again, I was pushing myself to end freaking Part 1 of 2 for Xana Awakens. BOTH EPISODES JUST SUCK AND THE CHARACTERS SEEM SO OOC EVEN FOR A CANON PILOT but it can't be helped. I probably made them even worse OOC oops.**

**Lolol someone PLEASE explain to me why this kid made a DP/CL cross and just copied half of ULW's prologue and then half of my prologue and called it his prologue. I ain't mad, I even applauded the troll (3rd review hehe). But seriously, if someone really thought my writing was good enough to basically COPY and claim as their own, i must be doing something right. It just makes me heart swell *Phantom muse wipes away my tear***

**Anyways, this stank chapter is done. And before I let you stop reading this bolded AN imma answer some reviewss.  
**

**_everyone_: okay so i guess i was stupid to believe that i could fool you guys into believing that Richie would be an OC lol. Don't hurt me.**

**princessbinas: you'll just have to wait and seee but considering how he has yet to change to Pitch... oops too much?**

**TheVirus: lol, you need a bottle of Aquafina for that Desiree thirst. and lyoko form is *BOOM* below. I might have to draw it, since im not so good at descriptions... Not that my drawing skills are any better :x**

**Werido: who said anything about Danny not getting burned OOPS WAS THAT A SPOILER?  
**

**nightmaster000: From what I read of ULW's, the "crossover" he mentioned seemed to only justify how there could be a superhero plot line in Paris. From what I can remember at 2AM (lol why do i do this to myself), Phantom's heroism was compared to Batman of Gotham City. Now, don't get me wrong, ULW might have possibly wanted to make it a multicross fic, but if there seems to be any hints of such as this story progresses, I am saying right now there is not. I had no intention of doing so. But thank you, this might clear up some things as I did mention before I was basing some ideas off of his crossover. It was just that good. Now, I'm not saying it was flawless - as I know sure as hell mine isn't (especially this chapter, rolls eyes) but he gave me enough motivation to start this one. So a _huge_ thanks to him.**

**Anyways, I forgot to post this in the very first chapter. I know, I know, I could just update the page (probably will), but here comes the most famous lines from almost every single FanFiction I read - **

**I don't own Danny Phantom, Code Lyoko, or any coincidental detail or reference that might have a lawsuit or copyright attached to it.**

* * *

"Sometimes putting random quotes that deal with the chapter are useless.  
Especially those that are just Part II's.  
So don't expect them on every new chapter."  
-swagdanny

_Chapter I - Beginnings, Part II_

* * *

"That tunnel is a nice way to beat curfews." Ulrich pointed out as the boys climbed out of the manhole, its position in the middle of the path that went over a bridge and into a factory. It was huge; it's castle-like proportions even came with a moat around the building.

"Yea, and there's another one in the park as well."

"The fact that there's even one 'easily accessible' entrance to a sewer..." Danny muttered. Ulrich and Jeremie looked at him amused.

"You're not from around here, are you..."

"Daniel. But just call me Danny." He sighed. Danny wondered if Richard knew about this. He did in fact leave campus, so finding a very pissed Richard sometime in the future was high on his list.

"Ulrich."

"I'm Jeremie... and I never got to thank you for earlier."

"It was nothing; I needed to find an excuse to do something anyway."

By this time, the trio crossed the bridge into the factory. Their path ended, overlooking a huge bare factory floor.

Jeremie grabbed one of the conveniently placed ropes and jumped; swinging out before sliding down the rope to the bottom floor. He looked back up at Ulrich and Danny, smirking.

"What are you guys waiting for? Scared of heights?"

Danny rolled his eyes. What a pointless question; he could fly. But they didn't need to know that. However, Ulrich seemed nervous "Uh.. no..." He grabbed onto the rope and closed his eyes, slowly sliding down.

Danny, now amused, waited until Ulrich was all the way down, and - feeling a bit daring - he jumped off the platform before grabbing onto one of the ropes. He curved his new flight into a semi-circle, descending down until he landed behind the two teens walking into an elevator.

"Okay, so that's the megacomputer you started up?" Ulrich asked Jeremie as the doors opened up into a room that only contained a yellow chair and a computer. It was connected to a huge arm hanging from the ceiling. Many wires, both huge as well as thin, could be seen behind the paneling around the room, as well as descending down to thee monitors inside the arm.

Danny whistled lowly – the machine obviously packed some power.

"It's actually called a supercomputer, and yea. It's ultra powerful, and while I was examining it, I found out it runs a virtual universe called Lyoko."

"You know, Belpois, this morning's electric shock must have fried your brain. This thing is just the control center for the rest of the factory, that's all."

But even Danny could see all the faults in Ulrich's logic. He had been around inventors and machines long enough to know that no 'control center' needs the power running it.

Jeremie quickly typed in something on the keyboard, and a window opened up. It was a pink-haired girl, her image seemingly basic CGI, but she was _moving _so fluidly. "Oh yea, and what do you call this? A program for spray-painting doors?"

"Hello Jeremie!" The animation exclaimed. Both Ulrich and Danny started. To Ulrich, it must have been some trick – Jeremie might have programmed something like this to say "Hello Jeremie!" every time he opened it. But Danny focused on what the girl was _doing_. Even though it had spoken to Jeremie, a look of worry had spread on her face. Computer animations weren't supposed to worry.

"Who's the girl with the pink hair?" Ulrich finally questioned.

"That's Mya, a form of artificial intelligence who lives on Lyoko! I don't know what she's there for, yet…"

"Don't mess with me! You programmed her, right?"

"No!" All three looked back at Mya. "I woke up the moment Jeremie restarted the supercomputer. I don't know who I am – my memory's been erased." There was the slightest blush on her face, but no one seemed to notice.

"Mya has to hide in some sort of a tower. As soon as she leaves it, she gets attacked by monsters! You gotta believe me, guys! This is an incredible discovery!"

Danny held up his hand. "Hold it, Jeremie. Now I'm not saying I don't believe this Rapunzel story that you stumbled upon, but think about it. Why did it get shut off in the first place? What if it just being on is why the attacks on you happened?"

Ulrich had to walk away to gather his thoughts, and then turned back to face them "What if it's just some kind of giant computer game?"

"Then it's a very dangerous game. Danny's right, my robots are programmed to just go fetch a ball – and they just tried to kill me! And the logo that appeared on my screen when they attacked – it's the same one that the monsters had on Lyoko."

Ulrich had sat in the chair, and seeing the controls, made the chair spin around. He smirked. "This is getting better and better. Then you mean the virtual thing that attacked Mya also wants to kill you?"

"Yes." Both Danny and Jeremie replied, giving each other glances. Jeremie was glad that Danny could see through the mystery and side with him, but it compared to nothing on Danny's mind. Here he was, in over his head with something that could be dangerous. _Really _dangerous. Even though he was already dead, he felt scared. Not just for himself, but for Jeremie too.

"You know, regardless Ulrich's density – " Ulrich shot Danny a glare, trying to match the one back from the dorm " – I have thought about this over. If it's this dangerous to you, to _us _now, why don't we just shut it down?"

"I know." Jeremie sighed. "I just wanted to help Mya understand what she's doing on Lyoko – and hopefully be able to materialize her back into the real world."

"What makes you think you can!?" Ulrich exclaimed loudly, for materialization seemed next to impossible, even considering all the mumbo jumbo Jeremie just said.

All Jeremie did was smirk at the nonbeliever. "You'll see, Stern."

* * *

"What's all this?"

Jeremie had taken them down in a room underneath the supercomputer, where four cylinders stood high, insides glowing in a warm yellow – bright enough to light the whole room.

"I haven't been able to find the program to bring Mya back, but through my digging I've been able to find the program to send someone _to _Lyoko."

"So they're scanners that can transport us there." Danny deadpanned, earning a stare from both of them. He just shrugged. "I've seen and heard enough about tech from my… parents. They were inventors, and they would just continuously talk my ears off. I picked up a few things here and there."

Jeremie closed his mouth and nodded. But Ulrich, unsurprisingly, wanted to argue. "Guys, these things don't exist yet. There's no way!" He shook his head, as if to signal a pair of ruby slippers to click three times and take him home from this weird dream.

Danny looked over him sharply. Many things weren't supposed to exist. Including ghosts. "Many things shouldn't exist, Ulrich. But they do. It's a fact that sometimes has to be learned the hard way."

"I'm guessing that you're talking about yourself?"

Danny only looked away. Neither of the boys pressed him about it.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Jeremie suggested "Why don't we try it out? Then you can see so yourself. All we need now is a guinea pig…"

"A guinea pig, huh? No problem. I'll be right back."

Ulrich went to the elevator and stepped inside, the door closing down behind him. As the elevator went up, Danny turned to Jeremie.

"I want to go to Lyoko."

Jeremie almost fell over. "Couldn't you have said that before Ulrich left?"

"No." Danny smirked, shrugging. "He still has ill-feelings about me, from what I can tell, but he wouldn't dare think about a human testing out something so 'science fiction.'" He finger quoted the last two words, purposely trying to avoid doing so around the word human.

Jeremie looked Danny up and down, and then sighed in admittance. "You're right. Just step inside while I go upstairs to start the process."

Jeremie climbed up the ladder on the side of the room. Danny sighed as well, finally showing true concern for the situation. He had to stick around, to protect his peers. He didn't want them dying, too.

All of the sudden he felt like he was throwing up ice. He started to gag, until a blue mist escaped his mouth. What the hell.

"I see that your ghost awareness finally kicked in."

He jumped at the sound of Richard's voice. He turned around to see the suited man staring back at him, trying to hide a laugh. This was weird, shouldn't he be –

"Daniel, now's not the time to chew you out." – oh. He did plan on it. "However, this was inevitable. In fact, you were to be here regardless."

He had learned to ignore Richard's future visions. They weren't helpful. It just made it seem like he wasn't in control. So he played dumb. "You're a ghost. With the ability to know the future. Why am I not surprised."

"You had already assumed this, or at least you should have."

"Did you at least see the ghost that controlled boxes making an appearance the room right above mine?"

"No." Richard put it down simply. "But it is and will be taken care of."

"Will be?"

Jeremie's voice cut in. "Okay Danny, I'm ready. Just step inside."

Danny turned to step inside, before a ghostly hand placed itself on his shoulder. "Really, Daniel. Be careful. This future has already been set in motion, and regardless of the outcome, you will be tested. Remember that if you ever feel alone, I am watching over you."

And with that Richard Geer disappeared. Danny looked down, swallowing all that was said inside of him. He took a deep breath, and set foot into the scanner. The other foot barely had enough time to make it in before the mechanical doors shut.

"Hey, Jeremie. Watch it. I almost didn't have a foot for Lyoko." Danny yelled sardonically.

"Sorry." Jeremie started to type the process into the computer. "Okay. Ready Danny?"

"If Britney Spears was able to live through 2007 with a bald head, then I should be able to handle anything."

Jeremie grinned. "Transfer, Danny. Scanner, Danny… Virtualization!"

A warning error popped up on the screen. "Subject's temperature is 86? That can't be right, Danny would be dead then." Jeremie typed in a few short codes, terminating and suspending any error codes that existed with his virtual profile. He would get back to it… sometime.

* * *

He hadn't expected the fall. But as soon as his vision returned, so did his sense of gravity. Landing right on his butt, Danny let out a small yelp, quickly standing and rubbing the impacted area on his body. It was not the fact that he just fell from high up and didn't feel anything that froze him.

His right palm was covered in medical gauze, fingers poking out in their respected places. He clenched the hand, noticing that the bandage didn't hinder its flexibility or versatility.

"_It must be a part of me_" He thought, before looking over the rest of his body. His left arm had the same medical gauze that wrapped his right hand, except it started at mid bicep, running down until it was three inches above the wrist. His upper torso was exposed, with lean muscle and a tan. He felt awkward with his chest and upper abdomen out in the open, and glanced nervously around to see if anyone else was there. Of course there wasn't any, he was basically the only one on Lyoko besides Mya.

The bandages started again in the middle of his abdomen, running down – until a large, green ribbon that resembled a karate belt covered them from sight. The gold-trimmed fabric was tied by his left hip, in a knot that left the remaining foot on one side and nine inches on the other hang down, close to the black pants. They fitted somewhat tight in the upper region, but slowly loosened as they ran down past his knees, ending about six inches above the ground. The rest of his leg and feet were exposed, except for the bandage that wrapped around his both ankles and mid feet – his heels still open to the ground, while toes wiggled just as free.

The fact that all these bandages basically screamed "Hey! I'm a walking, talking dead person!" didn't sit too well with him. Neither did the tribal tattoos – there weren't many, but the intricate designs poked out from under the bandages, and laced their was up and around his body. They were also a green, but his skin made it more natural than the ribbon/belt.

He finally looked around where he was. It was some sort of Desert – the ground was orange and looked sandy. The sky around was tinged with yellow too, as if to emulate he was supposed feel extreme heat. Well, he knew he could see and hear, but other than that… nothing.

"Danny, are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine… just trying to get a sense of my surroundings here. Plus, I don't think I need to breathe." Danny added the last bit, knowing Jeremie would like the information. He knew that he didn't need much oxygen, but Lyoko seemed to remove that need completely.

"That's really interesting! I wonder what else there is different about Lyoko than Earth."

"The fact that it feels like Ulrich was right when he compared it to a giant 3D computer game seems to sum that up pretty quickly."

He noticed a pool of water – or what he though was water, and looked into it. His face was somewhat normal, except the one single tribal tattoo strand that started from the corner of his right eye, curving down to his cheek bone. A green headband sat tightly on his head, controlling most of his white hair. It was tied in the back, allowing the ends to slack at once again different lengths - much like his belt. It was gold-trimmed as well.

"Why do I look like Street Fighter…" Danny sighed, realizing he couldn't even escape his ghostly looks on Lyoko. His hand ran along his right hip, and feeling a bump, he pulled out a Kunai dart. He figured there were even more stashed away. "… that took 'How to be Ninja' waayy out of context?"

"I don't know" Jeremie said suddenly, causing Danny to flinch. He hated how Jeremie's voice was appearing out of nowhere. It was just so unnatural. He chuckled at the sudden thought irony. "But from what I can see, you look really cool!"

"Thanks," muttered Danny. He looked away from the pool, to avoid seeing himself any longer. He couldn't deal with it anymore. However, a thought quickly passed by. "Jeremie," Danny asked nervously, "where am I exactly supposed to be?"

"Somewhere that looks like a forest, why?"

"Do forests on Lyoko look like deserts?"

"No…"

"Jeremie!"

"Shh! Ulrich's coming down the elevator!"

"Fine, fine. Just act like nothing happened, and that I left to find the bathroom… or something."

He was met with silence. Jeremie must _really_ want him to stop talking. Danny sighed, and started walking. Where he was going, he wasn't sure. But he had to find something to get him off this damn sector – hey, if there were two completely different levels in one world, why not call them that.

He saw in the distance a looming, whitish tower that seemed to have blue hue on the top of it. "That's a start." He started to walk in its general direction.

Not even 200 yards away from its location, however, he felt that he was being followed. He kept hearing this mechanical sound while walking, and every time he stopped, it stopped. He slowly began walking again, and when he heard the sound he quickly spun around.

Two little things that looked like roaches stared (he shrugged, only considering that they had been following him) up at him. Danny assumed these were the monsters Jeremie was talking about. "You got to be kidding, these things couldn't harm – " A red laser shot out of one of them and hit Danny's arm. "Ow!" The pain was quick and gone, but he had still felt it for a moment. If this world _was_ like a game, he knew he just lost some life points. "You little sh-" His body flowed smoothly as he jumped backwards, pulling one of the darts out. Brandishing it in his palm, Danny drew his arm back and threw, releasing it as his arm swept across his body. Upon impact, one of the roaches exploded in a red light. The other was rocked by the explosion.

Deciding not to stick around, Danny ran in the direction of the tower. How did he know to throw it like that? Was it just subconscious? Or was the fighting style basically 'downloaded' into his head when he was chosen the weapon?

Upon nearing the tower, he held his arms out – hoping to find some door or something amongst what seemed to be brown roots. However, his arms phased through upon contact, and yelping once again, he entered the tower upon a floating bridge and platform. The inside was blue, screens of digital information moving quickly all around him, either coming up or going down. He watched as a strand of information jumped from his view, heading downwards. However, Danny's lack of inability to keep balance while leaning over the edge to continue watching that strand led to his demise. Danny flailed his arms, but it was no use. He screamed as he fell into the darkness below.

* * *

"Everything's cool Jeremie, the mutt is in the scanner!" shouted Ulrich as he climbed up the ladder from the scanner room.

"Okay, let's see how it goes. It's not going to be a piece of cake." Jeremie lied, knowing that it worked alright. At least he and Danny believed so, even when Danny was in the height of angst. He didn't understand why the kid was so worked up over his outfit.

"Wait, where's Danny?" Ulrich asked Jeremie, eyebrow raised. Danny couldn't have just ditched Jeremie like this, even though he still believed that the kid was just toying with them.

"He went to find the bathroom," Jeremie said rather quickly. He internally cringed at his inability to lie. Seeing Ulrich's eyebrow still raised, Jeremie added "I never had to when I came here, so that's probably why he hasn't returned yet."

He didn't wait for the reply.

Meanwhile, below them, Odd and Sissi dropped into the scanner room, having followed Ulrich when the teen stole Odd's dog Kiwi, and were astonished by the chambers.

"Those things look like coffins." Odd stated wide-eyed, but flinched when Sissi's loud mouth sounded beside him. "YOU'RE RIGHT! Maybe it's the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh or something!"

"_Definitely not a babe_." Odd thought as he walked around the room, finding his dog in one of the 'coffins.'

"Kiwi!" Odd exclaimed, entering the chamber and picking up the dog. It squirmed in its master's hands, and breaking free, jumped out of the scanner. "Hey!"

The door to the chamber closed, and Sissi screamed. "Oh no! You're going to be mummified!"

-_Back up above_-

"Transfer, guinea pig. Scanner, guinea pig…" Jeremie and Ulrich looked at the transfer screen, but the dog on the screen looked strangely human.

"That's a weird looking dog, Ulrich."

"That's no dog, that's Odd Della Robia!"

Jeremie paled, and threw his hands up into his hair. "I don't know how to stop the procedure, either!"

Ulrich ran to the staircase to go back down, and heard a prolonged "Help!" from Sissi. "Oh man…"

"Ouch!"

* * *

Odd fell onto the Forest floor, looking at trees that didn't seem to end going skyward. "What's going on around here?"

He looked back down at his hands, and noticing the claws and tail that snuck itself into his vision, Odd twisted in a circle to look at himself. "And why am I dressed like a purple cat?"

"Odd Della Robia?"

Odd jumped, looking around. "Who's calling me?"

"It's me, Jeremie Belpois."

"Is this a joke or something?"

* * *

Danny opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by trees and green ground. He had remembered falling, and now he was here? All these towers must be linked to each other, somehow...

At least he was in the Forest.

He started to walk, trying to find that pink haired girl that Jeremie had been talking about. He knew she was in a tower, but he had checked the one he just came in. She wasn't there. Not that he thought he would be so lucky; fate hadn't given him that opportunity, yet. He then heard a human voice speaking not far off.

"Am I in a video game? This looks like the set from Babylon Ninja Fighters 3."

"Really?" Danny questioned, walking up to a purple human cat hybrid with yellow hair in a spike. "I imagine this to be more like D.O.O.M."

"You're right!" Odd exclaimed. The stranger obviously had some gaming knowledge in him; not that many people knew about the MMORPG. Odd knew that he would instantly like this guy. "What's your name?"

"Danny! And yours?"

"Odd Della Robia, at your service."

"Well, Odd," Danny said with a grin, holding out his hand. He didn't have to worry about his temperature here. "It was nice to formerly meet you so."

"My pleasure, sir." Odd grinned back and shook his hand, until he got knocked forwards from a blast to his back. Danny quickly caught him.

The two turned to see another pair of roach-looking monsters appear.

"What are those?"

"Don't know, but regardless, I've been trying to evade them."

"Really? They look so easy to beat though!"

"Do you even have a weapon?" Odd looked all over his body and, sadly, didn't find one. Danny rolled his eyes in amusement. "Come on, cat boy."

Danny threw another dart back at the roaches, but the monsters jumped out the way. But it was a good enough distraction for the two teens to run in the other direction.

"Jeremie, we could really use some help over here."

"Danny! How did you get there!?"

"Later, Belpois!"

"Right! Ulrich should be there any second."

"Great!" Odd said. "Me and Ryu were starting to get bored over here." Danny lightly smacked the back of Odd's head. "Ow!"

Danny looked up to see Ulrich's digital figure come to life in the middle of the air. Oh. So that's what happened to him.

Both of the boys winced as Ulrich landed face first into the ground. "Ouch!" Ulrich quickly got up and dusted himself off. His yellow and black clothing seemed to be modeled after samurai, minus the armor. A katana rested on his left hip.

When finally seeing the two boys, Ulrich both laughed and gaped. Laughed, because Odd was dressed like a giant purple cat. Gaped, because there was Danny, just sitting there, completely relaxed.

He marched straight up to the white haired teen. "How long have you been here!?" Danny only grinned back.

"Since you went to get his dog." He pointed a thumb over to Odd. "The scanners are meant for humans, so materializing the dog probably wouldn't have worked. Also, I don't want PETA catching wind of a dog being used to experiment something so 'scientifically improbable´ as materialization."

Odd stifled a laugh, while Ulrich glowered.

Odd, noticing the katana, raised his hands in frustration. "Why does everyone have weapons and cool outfits except me?"

"Well," Jeremie began, "I believe it has something to do with your inner conscious, dreams, et cetera…"

"I don't dream of cats! And this is my weapon? Purple claws?" As he said this, he bumped his right hand on his left wrist, and an arrow flew out, aiming precariously at Ulrich. It barely passed by his face.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Hm." Odd looked at his hands. "These arrows are pretty cool. I take back what I said."

* * *

"Try to hook up with Mya at her tower – I'll give you the coordinates."

"Whose this Mya!?"

Jeremy turned around and sweatdropped. Sissi was standing there right next to him, dressed in a sleazy red dress and a black choker. "And what is that thing!?" She pointed to the computer.

"It's a supercomputer, Sissi." Jeremie deadpanned. Just then, the symbol that was there during the robot attack appeared again – only this time, on the supercomputer's screens. They turned to see Kiwi barking at sparking wires, when all of the sudden, about twenty of them shot out of the ground.

The look on Sissi's face was one of terror. "AHHH!"

* * *

"Whose this Mya?"

The trio had once again been walking aimlessly since Jeremie told them he was sending the coordinates.

"A virtual girl who lives in Lyoko." Danny confided.

"Oh, so you mean there's babes here too? Great!" Despite being his only true new friend, it took a bunch of Danny's willpower not to smack the kid.

Ulrich, for once, came to Danny's aid. "Yea, but I get the impression that Belpois has flipped for her."

"A virtual chick? Is he nuts?"

"Kinda… Jeremie? Are you going to give us those coordinates or not?"

Only silence answered them.

"Hello? Jeremie? Are you asleep or what?"

Danny shook his head. "Jeremie wouldn't have left the supercomputer like that. Something's wrong."

"Well, what are we supposed to do about it, Danny?"

Odd paid no attention to the bickering, and just idly looked around. His eyes stopped travelling after a minute.

"Hey, isn't that a tower? Maybe Mya is in there."

The boys literally had their weapons at each other's throats before looking, and with a silent truce and a nod, they withdrew the weapons and followed Odd.

While approaching the tower, Danny remembered the last time he went into one. Did his ghost powers work here? He focused on making himself intangible or invisible, but even his hardest concentration wouldn't bring around the tingly feeling.

"So, how are we supposed to get in here?" Odd said, placing a hand on the wall. He started to lean – when his hand went through. Odd yelped as he was pulled inside. Ulrich and Danny stared at the spot, before Ulrich too followed Odd in. Danny sighed. He pushed his head in, only to see the two falling into the darkness. Groaning, and realizing he was about to plunge to an almost death a second time, he leaped straight into the hole.

* * *

The trio appeared in an area made of Ice.

"Wait, where are we? Where did the forest go?"

"How should I know?"

Danny scanned the area during this clueless fest until he spotted another tower. But it glowed red. "Hey guys, check out that tower. Why isn't it the same color as the ones before?"

Odd looked at the tower, but then noticed something else. "And those creatures, they look kind of weird too."

Three things that looked like giant blocks were shuffling over to them. The middle one started spinning, and then suddenly a red laser started shooting from it.

"It might be a good time to beat it, huh guys?"

The three ran, the blocks followings after them. But finding themselves stuck at a dead end, they were soon surrounded.

The first block fired, and Ulrich blocked it with his katana. He didn't notice the block behind him, firing a blue beam suspiciously looking like ice. Danny quickly pushed Ulrich away to avoid it.

"Thanks." Ulrich said, blocking off more shots with his Katana. He had double duty of protecting Odd as well.

"No problem." replied Danny, holding off his own block with two darts, wielding both in a defensive manner. He watched out of the corner of his eye Ulrich run and jump on top of his block, hacking away at the top. It was doing nothing.

Ulrich jumped back to Odd, deflecting the shot from his block. "How do you kill these things?"

Odd was panted, after shooting multiple laser arrows at his opponent. "I wish I knew! Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to know how many life points we have?-" Odd was hit by another blast, devirtualizing him.

Ulrich, seeing his friend 'die,' ran at the block. He stabbed it in its symbol, which made it explode. "Yes!-" A blast devirtualized him as well.

Now it was just Danny and the two blocks. He blocked the shots with the blades until he spun one into offensive and threw it. It remained true to its target, destroying the second block. But the third block to advantage of his now open flank, blasting him. The world went black.

* * *

Danny grabbed tight to the side of the scanner, weak in the legs. He noticed that Ulrich and Odd were even worse, both on the floor, gasping for air. Perks of being a ghost? He wasn't sure.

A crash from upstairs brought the teens to their feet, and going up the ladder, they were introduced to something not even Cirque du Soleil could compare to.

Half of the wires had come alive, and one profoundly thick one had a deadly charge on the end of it. Jeremy was being held high in the air, as the lead wire with the spark came closer to his struggling body.

"Hold on, Jeremie!" Danny yelled as Ulrich ran up with a metal sheet. He swung it at the electrical line – only to be zapped himself. He screamed and fell to the floor. The evil cable, now focused on Ulrich, rushed in for the kill – only to stop short of Ulrich's face by a foot.

"It works the second time!" Everyone looked at Odd, who had done the same thing as Ulrich. "I told you by the end of the day you couldn't live without me!" Nobody dared to pay attention to the ill-placed statement as he finished his swipe, effectively cutting the main cable in half. All the cables stopped moving, and slowly started falling back to the floor, releasing Jeremie.

All five of the students went to the supercomputer, which had started to reboot after the attack.

"Mya, are you there?"

The window opened and her face appeared. "Yes! Is everything okay on your side?"

Jeremie only smiled "Well, we're a little shaken up but it could have been worse."

Sissi whimpered. Odd laughed, while both Danny and Ulrich rolled their eyes. It was time for bed. Danny knew that sleep was what he probably needed to end his first day in France. Proper introductions could wait until morning.

* * *

Richard only shook his head as the scenes unfolded on his monitor. "Yet, you are the most clueless, Daniel." His features darkened. "If you only knew what you were dealing with."

He waved the monitor away, and brought another one up of two ghosts. One was of Ember, a pleasurable smirk on her face as she stared out into the natural world from the ghost zone, darkness creeping over France. She had finally found one of the natural portals. This was good, she couldn't have come at a better time. He dismissed that one with ease.

The second one held a pale blue man, just like Box Ghost's, with black hair that rose into two points. His blood red eyes could have matched Richard's own, but there were no good intentions in them. Only need.

And so, he watched as the ghost overshadowed the former father of Daniel, only to be forced out by the human's will alone. He quickly flew away as he was shot at with ecto weapons, some burning the white suit.

While everyone was trying to recuperate from what just happened at this reunion, a man walked in with silver hair, tied into a short ponytail. His eyes were sunken, shadowed circle surrounded them. Eyes that held the most mock concern for his party guests, hate for the large man in the orange jumpsuit, and love for the 'fat oaf's' wife.

Richard chuckled, the man thwarted once again by the 'bumbling oaf.' However, it took almost all of Richard's power for the man to not find out about Daniel. He will, inevitably, but not now. Daniel still has much to learn. With one last look, he ended this view screen as well.

He opened a small portal to the dorm, and moved a few boxes from his study in the tower into the corner of the boy's room. He probably would have to interfere with time a little more, just to keep Daniel's cover. As long as it was for Daniel, the Observants wouldn't mind. Much. But they were getting restless.

He opened one of the cardboard crates and smiled. It was the stuff he had wanted for his room (since Daniel couldn't really get it delivered him) as well as a personal gift. He will find it all when he gets back. And he will be happy.

At least that's what Richard hoped the future held.

* * *

**ANNNDDDDD SCENE! DUN DUN DUNNNNNN**

**OH NO, SWAGDANNY INTRODUCED VLAD! AND REMENTIONED DANNY'S PARENTS! WHAT COULD THIS POSSIBLY MEAN?**

**WHAT DOES EMBER REALLY WANT WITH DANNY?**

**AND WHAT DID RICHARD MEAN WHEN HE HOPED THAT DANNY WOULD BE HAPPY IN THE FUTURE?  
**

**NEXT TIME, ON LYOKO WARRIORSSSSSSSSS *dragonball z theme plays in the background*  
**

**okays but seriously guyss. I didn't like this chapter. there were just so many things wrong with it, and possibly could of contained one of the biggest spoilers of the whole series. Yea. at least I changed _that_. But still, I didn't feel it like I did the previous two. Maybe because majority of it was already scripted so I couldn't add much of my own. Oh well. Fingers crossed that Xana Awakens Part II will just be one chapter! (everything is down hill from here in this pilot. time to start thinking up plotss for general chapterss yay). Updates might start getting a little slower - these past three chapters had already been partly written out due to my undiagnosed ADD. heh. anyways, continue your typed support! Expect a funneh response if you ask a funneh question (IS THAT A CHALLENGE?) yet if someone looks like the have an educated question then i probably will leave an educated answer back (yes i know princessbina's question was legit but seriousslyy i wrote in the prologue that a magician never reveals all his cards at once so guess what it was coming to ya).  
**

**Big bolded run on paragraph AN's *cheif keef voice* that's that shit i doan like BANG BANG.  
**

**3AM whoops spent an hour typing AN's.  
**

**PPS if you found something awkward or weirdly worded in this chapter PLEASE tell me im to tired to edit it properly and you guys deserved this (aka decent but not tedious, comb over editing like i try to do).**


	4. XANA Awakens

**Hey guys! This chapter came a few days later than I hoped, but guess what? IT'S HERE NOW, AND TWICE AS LONG AS THE LONGEST CHAPTER THAT HAS BEEN POSTED. So have fun (cheers).**

**Just gotta say while writing this me and princessbinas had a nice little PM fest. I'm really thankful for the ideas she suggested, as well as the encouragement. I really like seeing that kind of stuff. aka take a hint and suggest some stuff this fanfic is going to be loooonnggg and i'm definitely not planning that far ahead.**

**Also, I would like to state RIGHT NOW that Danny is not going to be gay. period. This does not stop homoerotic innuendos from happening, but there will be nothing from ANY side of sexual orientation except a flirt, and maybe an ending innuendo.**

**Now,**

**TheVirus: well, uhm... (looks around for a distraction so I don't have to explain myself)  
**

**jeanette9a: well like it's understandable for a DP/TT crossover. Batman fucking taught Robin everything he knows, so every single show Batman is in is plausible. And if the characters in his shows are in other shows, those characters become plausible. Plus, not only does TT have Robin, but so does Young Justice. So all the teens from Young Justice are plausible. So, based on my thought process, if you introduce Danny to a show like TT, your basically saying the whole superhero/supervillain of DC exists. Maybe Marvel, I don't know where superheros pledge allegiance.**

**Werido: (looks down at story BASICALLY HINTING THIS PARAGRAPH IS ABOUT DANNY AND EMBER)**

**Sparxthehdgehog: thank you thank you lol i literally went through three different wardrobes before choosing that one but then I was like, why does this remind me of something, so a quick google search helped me out and I was like... that's danneh without the bandages. and, well, uhm... (see explanation for Werido, except about his biology).  
**

**tylerbamafan34: Thanks, lol. It's not slash, and (hopefully) I'm doing well enough with character development (though I do cringe at the thought now that I might have overrushed Danny's relationship, as it is only the pilot episode of Code Lyoko still.) Danny does grow into his powers - you have to remember that just like canon Danny Phantom, Danny at first had no idea what he was doing. He literally scared himself when he fired his first ectoblast. So don't worry about Danny just struggling to hide himself on Earth, as (hopefully again) by the end you can see I'm opening up the idea of him being somewhat productive with his ghost powers. I agree as well, ULW did make Danny seem like a lil' bitch (cowers at the might of FanFic DP/CL gods)  
**

**I also remember someone saying along the lines of I pushed Danny into knowing how to use his Lyoko form too fast, already showing you guys his Lyoko powers. No I didn't... Everyone's weapons are based on subconscious, so they should _know_ how to be able to use them effectively. Ulrich seemed pretty handy with his katana in the very beginning, why not complain to the writers about him?**

**There, now onwards trusty scroller!**

* * *

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant, filled with a terrible resolve."_ - _Isoroku Yamamoto_  
_

_Chapter II - XANA Awakens_

* * *

Morning red and oranges from the eastern sun peeked into Danny's window, inching up the floor as it traveled its way to his sleeping form. Soon, the light began to tug on his eyelids, and groaning, Danny's hands rose to his face, trying to rub the drowsiness from his restless sleeping away.

"Finally the dipstick awakes."

Danny yelped and jumped to the ceiling. He grabbed tight, automatically trying to get himself away from what startled him. His closely knit eyelids snapped opened as he heard female laughter from below.

Turning his head, he noticed a pale teenager. She dressed like a rocker, in only a black tank top with one shoulder strap over her left shoulder. It was tight; her midriff was exposed due to the lack of fabric of the shirt. Tighter black leather pants, with a silver belt and boots, as well as a long black glove going up to her shoulder on her right hand and a black bracelet on the left hand finished off the look. She had been sitting in a chair, until she fell over laughing at Danny's sudden reaction. Her blue flaming hair followed her around as she rolled across the floor.

Danny was a little freaked out at first, but irritation quickly interrupted. In fact, Danny was very irritated. He was cold all through the night, shivering in his bed. Once or twice he could see his breath through half-lidded eyes, but he hadn't thought about it much at 2 AM.

She was a ghost. And she'd been making him unable to sleep due to her presence since _at least_ 2 AM.

He floated back down to the floor, scowling at the girl. "What was so fun about watching me sleep majority of the night? Do you get sick kicks out of making ghost teens have insomnia or something?"

She laughed even harder, but pushed herself off the floor, or, well, floated to an upright position. Tears were in her eyes.

"No, sweet cheeks, you're the only one. Just that you were sleeping…" she sighed with a smile. "It's been since I've seen any ghost do that." Green eyes that matched his eyes looked at him again, before laughing. "You're pretty comfortable with your body, aren't you, dipstick?"

He huffed at the 70's nickname, but was confused about what she was talking about, until he looked down.

Crap. Crap crap crap. Danny began to blush excessively. Here he was, standing in front of this girl – ghost or not, it was a girl, and he wasn't about to wonder about how the ghost birds and the ghost bees interact – in pure white and black striped boxers. His hands went down protect his crotch from sight.

"I, uhh… umm… got to go… take a shower." Danny stammered, before muttering to himself "and a nice, cold one as a well."

Apparently, all ghosts had super hearing, as the girl started to laugh again. Danny quickly grabbed a towel, new pants and underwear before storming out of the room, red as a beet.

"Who is she!" Danny hissed under her breath, trying to maintain his composure. He didn't want _another_ accident with his powers to happen again. He tried to focus on the water as it ran down his body. He imagined the water to be cool, calming – he found out he couldn't feel temperatures anymore; this tidbit of information being somewhat crucial to his disguise. He had thought that the weather was fine, until he saw everyone shiver in what was apparently the cold last night. Getting some weird stares, he had quickly assumed a hunched position as well.

He turned the knob off, letting the last bit to fall from the showerhead. Danny reached around the curtain to grab his towel. But it wasn't there.

"Looking for this?"

Danny yelped as he felt something press against his back. He hadn't heard anyone else come into the showers, so that leaves one possibility. It was the girl. And she was staring at him _naked_.

"You're sick, you know that?" Danny huffed, in clear exasperation. He quickly turned intangible – and invisible, as a naked ghost would start a riot – and flew out of the bathroom. Back in his room, he noticed that he was now completely dry. Was that his intangibility at work? He didn't care – multiple mental fist pumps went through his head as he threw on another pair of boxers and pants as the ghost girl came back from the bathroom.

"Awh, come on, have some vanity. Be proud of your body!" The girl whined. A purple guitar materialized and she played a few chords, looking moody, before she began to smirk. "Does it make you feel better that even though you look like you just started puberty you're bigger than majority of my hook-ups?" She started to trail off about how Danny could have in fact gone through puberty, and his voice just wasn't deep, or he just wasn't defined body wise, until Danny snapped back from shock.

"What!? NO!" Danny screamed. It was disgusting enough to be seen naked; and now this girl was comparing him _to other men_!? "Would you stop that! I don't know how a ghost can even 'hook up'!"

"Well then, you _obviously_ haven't been a ghost for long baby pop, but since you look around the age for…"

"Stop!" Danny yelled in a pleading voice. He had his hands up in his hair, and was shaking his head. He wasn't listening to this. He wasn't about to have a conversation about _sex _from this random ghost. Danny sighed in annoyance, and then realizing he _was _still half naked, hurriedly threw on his shirt and jacket. He wasn't giving _this _ghost any more leverage, even though she did stop and smirk confidently. She just sat back in the desk chair, closing her eyes and playing the guitar again.

He sat on his bed, putting on his shoes. He looked up at the ghost. "When are you going to leave?"

The girl stopped and looked at him, surprised. "What?"

"When are you going to leave? I kind of have things to do today." Lies. He didn't have to start anything till next week still.

She stared at him for a moment, looked around the room for hidden cameras, and then back to him. Did she not get it?

"What do you want! You've literally just been watching me for at least five hours now, and you haven't done anything!"

"That's because _you_ haven't done anything!"

Danny raised an eyebrow. "And what is that suppose mean? Listening, I'm not hooking up – "

"Damn it! I said most of those things just to piss you off! WHY AREN'T YOU PISSED OFF?"

"Wait, most?"

She literally flew straight at him. She grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him into the air. Her green eyes were now pure blood red.

"Listen, cheese weasel," she hissed, in a dangerously low tone. "I am this close to ending your afterlife. So tell me RIGHT now why you aren't fighting back?"

"Fighting back?" Danny repeated, giving the girl a 'are you serious' face. "Why? All you have done is make things _extremely _awkward. But since you are trying to finish me off…" He brought his feet up and kicked her chest, pushing him out of his grasp. He flipped in the air, before falling back onto the bed and resumed to tying his second shoe. "Happy?"

The ghost's eyes faded back to their normal color. "You don't feel a need to fight?"

"Why would I fight someone else if I have to fight my own powers just to remain inconspicuous here…" Danny deadpanned. It was true, Danny literally started to phase through his bed, and noticing his sincerely panicked expression, the other ghost teen pulled him back up. "You haven't done any real harm anyway. Just maybe forever damaged my poor self-esteem."

The ghost girl only stared at the boy. "How long have you been a ghost?"

"Two weeks? I don't know. It's felt like forever."

Confirmation seemed to pass through the ghost girl's eyes. "You're really the one."

"The one what?"

She didn't respond, instead looking at him intently. Suddenly she grinned. "What's your name, dipstick?"

He was silent for a moment, but she knew why. "Come on, I'm a ghost. I can't expose you to the world without exposing myself."

"Why?"

"Because I'm Ember McLain. You?"

Danny fell out of bed. "You mean you're telling me that YOU'RE that new, international rock singer?"

Ember rolled her eyes and gestured Danny to get on with it. He only sighed. "Daniel Fantôme. But call me Danny."

Ember snorted. "Danny Fantôme . That's inconspicuous. What's you real name, though."

"It IS my real name, or at least it is now. I…" Danny stopped. Ember saw pain in his eyes before he looked at the ground, his hair covering them. "… rather not talk about that past."

She had to admit, she didn't even think he would give her a real name. She certainly hadn't given him her birth name – just her ghost name. But he did just trust her with his secret identity…

"You sure are popular in the Ghost Zone." Ember suddenly shifted topics, feeling a little bad for causing trouble to a now assumed friend.

Danny looked up suddenly, nervous. "Why?"

"Just the fact that _no one_ has seen you, except for now me. And Boxy. But I don't think he's going to say anything for a while…" Ember smirked, remembering how the Box Ghost was blabbering about the occasion to himself before she found him. He sure wasn't going to say anything now if he knew what was good for his dead health.

"Good." Danny stood up and walked to the door, turning the handle.

Ember put a hand on the door, as if to keep it closed. "And exactly _why_ is that a good thing, sweet cheeks?"

Danny sighed, and stuck his now intangible head through the door. No one was in the hallway, awesome. He phased the rest of his body through and started walking, Ember floating invisibly behind him – his icy breath confirmed this suspicion.

Sighing, he continued the conversation under his breath. "Look, I just want to continue with life. Shit, I was fourteen when I died!" Danny was getting a little angry. His eyes flashed brighter. "You can't blame me for trying to become normal again! I never asked to become a ghost!"

He stopped and turned, grabbing Ember's invisible arm. She became visible, flinching from his sudden movement, trying to pull away. Just like the Box Ghost did when Danny moved towards him. "I'm glad you were able to see this new ghost, naked and everything. Hopefully the other ghosts will enjoy the mental images as well. Just leave me alone." He let go of her, turned and walked off, before _his_ arm was grabbed.

"Look, Danny." Ember hissed angrily into his ear. "When I make a promise, I keep it. Nobody will know about this. But guess what? You can't change the past. You even said so yourself. So give up on being normal. Because there is nothing you can change about the present. You're _not_ normal. Just as we speak, ghosts are becoming interested in this said new ghost I've come to known. He's supposed to be powerful. _Real_ powerful."

He looked over to look into her eyes, but she was invisible again. "Just imagine if they got their hands on him, bended and shaped him to their own will and purpose. They would have control over one of the most powerful beings ever – a half ghost."

"Wait, what!? Half-ghost!?"

He spun around expecting an answer, but Ember was gone.

He sighed to himself; she had considered him a friend in the end. And he treated her with contempt. Why has he been so rude lately? Is it to protect himself? Being bitter and alone seemed worse than having some friends that might know you're secret. Maybe that bitter aura was why he and Ulrich weren't on the best terms.

He looked out the window to the cafeteria, seeing part of the gang from last night sitting in there. He dreaded about going into that cafeteria again. But he shook himself into confidence.

Deciding not to push the limit on ghost creepiness this morning, he walked down the flight of stairs, and into the courtyard. He felt like he needed a bowl of Raisin Bran anyways.

* * *

The cafeteria was nearly full, children eating their hearty breakfasts. Ulrich himself was enjoying a strong coffee – he needed it, he couldn't sleep a wink last night. Past Odd's snoring and Kiwi's occasional bark, his mind was in a disarray from what happened the previous day. The supercomputer. Lyoko. It was all real.

Sissi sat next to him, staring lovely at the boy as his head tilted back, trying to catch what last remained of his wake-up drink. When he was done, she held up a croissant to his face. A look of confusion crossed it, and then as scowl that said 'why is Sissi trying to feed me'?

"Hey lovebirds! Sleep well?"

Ulrich started at the sound, and Sissi rolled her eyes. Both looked at the source of speech, and eyebrows were raised.

There stood Odd, his hair gelled up into the same spike as in Lyoko.

"No, but what's with the hairdo?" asked a surprised Ulrich. Well, he wasn't _actually_ surprised. Odd was turning out to be, well… odd.

"Lyoko style! It's pretty trendy, huh?" He sat down with his tray of food. He lifted up his hands, and curled them like paws. "Meow!"

Ulrich closed his eyes in annoyance and let out an exasperated sigh. The sound of Odd scarfing down his food like he had been starved for twelve weeks hadn't helped either. But soon, through the noise, he noticed that the cafeteria had quieted down. He opened his eyes to see Danny standing in the door way, obviously shying away from the attention. Suddenly, cries ripped out of the lunchroom.

"It's him!"

"He's real!?"

"Hell yeah! I was in here the first time he showed up!"

Danny quickly turned and started running back to the dorms, with some kids daring to follow him. However Jim blocked the doorway before even the first of the pursuers got there. "Y'all should be ashamed of yourselves! Just because he looks and talks different doesn't make him almost like an outcast! Since moving here from America, that kid has been locked up in his dorm, and every time he tries to come down here to eat, he gets stared at like a wild hog!"

However, Jim's condemnation of the students only raised more murmur and gossip. But, Jim's mission had been successful – the bold students sulked back to their seats.

"America, huh? That far?" It would explain the way the kid talked and acted, and if Jim was right, Ulrich really had the wrong emotions set for him. All he needed was a friend, and Ulrich kept ridiculing him. Sighing again, he promised himself to talk to Danny.

He looked back at Odd, whom had been oblivious to the fiasco behind him, and became slightly disgusted. "You always eat that much?"

Odd shrugged. "No, I'm not feeling that hungry today, in fact. Hey, has anyone seen Jeremie?"

"He was up all night in his room working on Lyoko, after he put the computer back together."

"Man, that guy's a real Einstein."

"Who's Einstein?" Sissi looked confused. Both Ulrich and Odd face palmed.

* * *

"Unfortunately, you're not like Odd, Danny, or Ulrich. You can't be devirtualized when you lose all of your life points." Jeremie told Aelita, who was also on his screen. He had moved some of the equipment from the lab to his room, where he could work on programs and connect with Lyoko instead of constantly checking in at the lab.

"That's too bad… at least now I know how to change sectors!"

"Yea, and I also found out what the towers are for – their portals between the virtual world and the real world. And when their red, it means their activated."

"Are you sure?"

"Just about. And it may be the way to materialize you onto Earth! Unbelievable, huh? I can't wait to tell the others about it!"

Jeremie heard a door slam outside his dorm. Jeremie sighed. "I guess Danny tried to go to breakfast this morning."

"What's the problem with that?"

"Nothing… well, okay, he's sort of new at the school, just like Odd."

"So? Does Odd have a problem with the cafeteria as well?"

"No! It's just, well, Danny is someone that sticks out like a sore thumb. His hairs _white_, Mya."

"My hair's pink!"

"Not the point, sorry. Here's a better example – He came from a whole different continent, where the ways of his society were much different than ours. And what could have been acceptable and ignored over there, is not so over here. But the only thing that's similar is how humans behave to something that isn't normal. They're scared, Mya. And curious. But the only outlet they tend to use is verbal hostility."

"How do you know that he went to the cafeteria anyway?"

"Well, he sort of told me when we parted from Odd, Sissi and Ulrich when we got back from the factory last night. What his day had been like. He never left his room, didn't have any interaction with anybody – until he went to the cafeteria. They all stared and started to murmur ridiculous things about him. Even I heard some of the rumors about him – and I'm not really much of someone to hear gossip spread, Mya."

"There's nothing wrong with that, Jeremie. You found me, so to me; you are important. Danny has to be important for someone, too. He seemed really nice and caring last night."

Jeremie blushed, turning away from the computer. "Thanks, Mya." He mumbled, the corners of his mouth turning upward.

* * *

"You want us to go back to Lyoko to get Mya into a red tower?" Ulrich asked incredulously.

"Like I said, it's the only way to bring her into the real world. Pretty wild, huh?"

"Pretty dangerous, you mean. We could have all been wiped out for good last night." Odd piped in.

"Odd's right. We're all better off to just shut down the super computer. Too bad for Mya, but still, it's not like she's _human_."

Jeremie was now the one to stare disbelievingly at Ulrich. "But she's still some sort of intelligent being! She's got emotions like we do!"

Ulrich rolled his eyes, and looked at Odd. "See, I told you, he's madly in love with a computer program."

"A computer program that almost killed us last night." Danny seemed to appear out of nowhere, next to Jeremie. His voice was frosty. "He's right. Mya is a victim to a program she shouldn't be a part of. She needs to be saved, even _if_ she's not human." He glared daggers at Ulrich. "All Jeremie wants to do is for us to go back in there one last time, to save a being. I, for one, am willing to do so." Danny stormed off.

They all watched him go, trying to comprehend what just happened. Odd was the first to shake his head.

"Regardless, we couldn't even make it past the monsters. We'll get ourselves blown away in a heartbeat."

Ulrich however, continued to stare at Danny's retreating form. He needed to talk to him _now_, before it got too out of hand. "It would be easier if we had more people, but Sissi is just too scared."

"What! No I'm not! I really want to go with you guys to Lyoko, but only when cheerleading practice is over."

"Whatever," Ulrich deadpanned, and got up from the park bench him, Odd, and Sissi were being interrogated on. He started walking in the direction Danny left.

"Thanks, Sissi." Jeremie rolled his eyes. He would do anything to not let Sissi into Lyoko. "So here's the scoop you two. As soon as Mya is materialized into the real world, I'll shut down the supercomputer. I give you my word. But until then, you can't tell anybody about this."

"Shouldn't they know about that rule too?" Odd pointed a thumb at the general direction of the two teens that had left. Jeremie only shook his head.

"They have secrets too, Odd. I'm pretty sure they're able to identify and hold one more."

* * *

Ulrich assumed this was Danny's dorm. The door to it was open last night, as he came up to the commotion inside Jeremie's. Feeling a little nervous, Ulrich gulped, and knocked on the door. There was no answer, except a quiet shuffle inside.

"Danny?" There was still no answer. The shuffling did stop, though.

"Danny, I know you're in there. I just want to talk."

The handle jiggled a little, before a topless Danny opened the door. Drops of black paint covered his arms and body, and what appeared to be painting pants were dirty from paint as well. Ulrich peered inside and saw that Danny was indeed painting, but it was the walls. Instead of the tannish color, they were now black like midnight.

"Are you allowed to do this?"

Danny, looking annoyed, sighed, but then smirked. "Yea, Mr. Delmas said so. I just hadn't been able to start it until after breakfast…"

Both boys cringed a little at the episode. Ulrich was the first to comment, however.

"Sorry I didn't stick up for you."

The annoyed expression left Danny's face, and was replaced with quick surprise. "It's okay, Ulrich. I didn't think you would anyways. We're not really on the best page with each other."

"No, we're not, which is why I came here." Ulrich saw Danny's mouth turn down into a frown a little. "First of all, I'm sorry the way I continued to treat you last night. You weren't there harming anyone, and you actually seemed concerned for what's happening, while I wasn't…" Ulrich gave a small, sheepish grin. "I completely misunderstood you, and I jumped to conclusions before I even thought of learning more about you."

"And I'm sorry about what I have done, especially that meeting like five minutes ago. I guess I just have this feeling that I need to protect Jeremie, protect Mya. They're going to need it if they're at the factory tonight."

"I understand." The two looked uncomfortably at different things in Danny's room, before Ulrich said something again. "Look, why don't we just start over. Hi, I'm Ulrich."

Danny smiled and reached out to shake Ulrich's hand. "And I'm Danny, the super-secret kid that has naturally white hair."

"Really? How did that happen?" Danny only shrugged, pulling back his hair to show the roots. They were as white as the tips.

Seeing that Danny wasn't playing defensive anymore, Ulrich began prying for information. "So you took those robots out yourself, huh? You know self-defense?"

"Mostly Jujutsu, but I usually try to stick with Aikido. You know, using your attacker's energy against them? My mother had a ninth-degree black belt in majority of the martial arts, and before I left she figured that I needed to at least be capable of handling myself. I became a black belt in that short amount of time as well, but there's no way I would be as good as her."

Ulrich was impressed. "That's really cool! I myself do Pencak Silat – there's classes that they teach here. I'm not that bad at either, at least I hope." Both boys started to chuckle. Ulrich, though, realized something. "Hey Danny, why don't you come with me today? It would be great to see how you are able fend off and reverse attacks. Plus, it might be good to actually be seen on campus. Rumors about you are spreading like wildfire. Some even say you're like a ghost.

Danny winced. Yea, that probably wasn't the best way to handle that situation. Rubbing the back of his neck, Danny replied, "Let's just say I never liked to be an attention getter."

"Well, you grabbed enough attention already. You're more popular than Sissi as of now, and you haven't even shown your face for more than five minutes." Both Ulrich and Danny laughed at this one.

It was true, Sissi was almost considered a nobody with all the attention Danny was getting. But Danny wasn't a bad kid at all! Ulrich realized Danny was just shy and quiet, much like he was. Maybe they could endure through the torture of popularity together.

Danny still pondered Ulrich's question, but he felt the buildup of another chill passing through his body. Great. Why did _this_ have to happen when he actually was making a friend for once?

"Sorry, Ulrich, but I really can't. You can probably tell why." He gestured to himself and the half-painted room. Boxes and plastic was scattered everywhere, making the dorm a complete mess.

Ulrich was disappointed, but only shrugged. "Yea, I do. See you, Danny." He fist bumped the white haired teen, and started to walk out the door.

Danny closed the door behind him, before sighing angrily. "They're always going to show up at just the wrong time, aren't they." At least him and Ulrich were okay now.

"Don't take it the wrong way, Daniel. Must ghosts have very busy schedules."

Daniel turned to see Richard standing behind him, smiling knowingly. Danny instantly hugged him, staining the suit with wet paint on his body.

"Daniel, my clothes."

"Get over it." He mumbled out the side of his mouth.

Richard only sighed, deciding not to struggle out of the boy's grip. "I wish you didn't start painting so soon."

"You shouldn't have given the stuff before now, then." Danny looked up to finally talk face to face. "Thank you, though. Everything is how I hoped it would be."

"Good." Richard finally phased out of the boys arms, floating around the room, expecting Danny's progress.

"You seem to be getting along well with the students here."

Danny only sighed. "You know that's not true."

"_They_ weren't the ones I was talking about. I meant Mr. Belpois, Della Robia, and Stern."

"Oh, well, in that case, yea. It's kind of hard not to because, you know…"

"Yes, Danny. I know. I would like to applaud you on how you and Stern finally are able to see eye to eye as well."

Danny smiled at this. "Yea, Ulrich's pretty cool. He reminds me a lot of what I… used to be, except without half of the girls in love with him."

"You're still you, Daniel. You and Ulrich are actually more alike now than you ever have been, including the girls." Richard smirked. "Seems like you already met one of your more ghostly ones."

"You knew that was going to happen, didn't you? …I don't know, Richard. She came based on the assumption I was somehow evil, somehow wanting to destroy everything and everyone. I'm not capable of that, Richard. What's worse, I feel bad for treating her as I did… She only seemed like she was trying to help, and now that I think about it… I didn't want her to leave."

"You wouldn't have to worry about your secret if you let me handle her as I did Box Ghost."

"I figured you were the reason why no other ghosts besides her showed up. He's kind of a loud mouth, isn't he?"

Richard chuckled. "Yes, Daniel, quite observant." He didn't hear Daniel retort, so he turned back to see the boy sitting in his bed, looking at the floor. He floated back down and stood in front of him, placing an hand on Danny's shoulder. "Her leaving wasn't the only reason why you're struggling with emotion."

He saw green eyes of fear and sorrow look up at him. "Richard, they both know more about me than I do. When I cut myself when I confronted the Box Ghost, he cowered at the sight of my blood. It was both red and green. He told me it was just regular ghost blood, but I knew he was lying. He wouldn't have shied away from me like that. Both him and Ember feared me when I looked like I was about to strike them, yet I don't even know how to control my own powers! All because I'm some sort of halfa? What, does that make me a freak in the world of ghosts as well?"

"No, Daniel." Richard said forcibly, causing Danny to cringe. Richard was powerful, he knew that. But he never acted the role before. "You're not a freak. You're different, and almost every ghost that finds out why will envy you to the point of pure hatred. That's why it is best to make friends right now instead of enemies. If you had put two and two together before now, you should know why."

Danny was perplexed for a moment, before realization dawned on him. "I'm half ghost…" whispered Danny.

"And half human. So in-harmony are your halves, in fact, they were able to blend into one true form. Perfection is what you should consider yourself, instead of something so vile as _freak_, Daniel."

* * *

Ulrich opened the red doors to the dimly lit gym. Before his eyes could adjust back from the sun's brightness, someone spoke behind him.

"Back for another thrashing?

He turned around and saw a taller girl with black hair. She had a black sweater on, as well as black pants and black boots. Her and Odd were similar in that way – having one color basically dominate your wardrobe.

"I don't like ending on a bad note." Ulrich replied, smirking. He followed the Japanese girl to the middle of the gym.

"That's good; I like a challenge."

"You're gonna get one, alright."

They both bowed and then bent into defensive poses, walking around in a circle, eyes never leaving the other. Ulrich was the first to act, jumping quickly at the girl, arm swinging down. She quickly side-stepped the attack, and tried to lash back with her own – but Ulrich also was able to quickly dodge her attack as well. And so did this game of hit and miss continued, both prancing around the center dodging, weaving, and occasionally trading blows until they both became tired, collapsing in the middle of the gym, breathing hard.

"Have you been training for long?"

"Yea, my parents think it's weird."

"Not me. By the way, I'm Ulrich. You're… Yumi, right?"

"Right." Yumi looked in the other direction, with a slight smile on her face.

* * *

"It was true that I once thought Sissi was a real babe, but the more I get to know her, the more she seems to be a… uh… how do I put this tactfully…"

"A turkey." Jeremie replied confidently, smirking as both him and Odd glanced over to her tryouts as they headed to the library.

"Exactly."

Sissi, meanwhile, was twisting her baton around almost uncontrollably. Prancing around, she began to chant.

"A cheer leader cheers so her team won't lose! We got short skirts and sparkly shoes, we're just so gorgeous how could you choose, there's no doubt, we've got clout, winning at Kadic is what it's all about!" Sissi's baton began to twitch violently as its rotation increased. "Kaaaaaaadic!"

Suddenly, Sissi's baton was launched into the air, spinning at such a high velocity that it looked like a grey disk in the sky.

The crowd watched it go up, and watched it go down. Down onto Jim's head.

"Ouch!" Jim exclaimed, all the while two nerdy boys in the stands started yelling "Bravo!" and "Well done!" They were the only two that exploited any chance to applaud.

"Sissi!" Jim glared at Sissi, rubbing his head on the spot. "Being a cheerleader does not mean being a boomerang juggling baboon!"

Both Odd and Jeremie snickered uncontrollably as they entered the library.

* * *

"Jeremie? Are you there?" Mya asked, still in the tower. It was safe in here, much safer than being outside with those monsters. But she had felt something. Vibrations? But the ground didn't shake; it was more of a… thump. Maybe they were pulsations.

Mya stood from her sitting position, and walked to the entrance of the tower. Did she want to check it out? Was she willing to step out into danger?

She shook her head. Anything was better than sitting inside a tower. At least she wasn't as clueless as she was when the supercomputer first came on. Fisting her hands, she walked through the wall.

The familiar Forest setting from the last time she was out met her again. But there were no monsters around. Not chancing her luck, however, she began running off in the direction the pulsations were leading her.

* * *

"Aha! Bingo!" Jeremie was busy typing away on his keyboard until he finished with an overall air of confidence. "A couple of days ago, I dug up a brand new program on the supercomputer named "Return to the Past." And I just figured out how to activate it!" Jeremie's voice began to sing by the time he finished.

Odd shrugged off Jeremie's hand that had been place on his shoulder, not really paying attention to what the genius just said. "That's great, Einstein, but can you give me a hand on this electrochemistry report?"

Jeremie, however, eyed Odd. "Hey, are you planning on calling me Einstein forever?"

"Why not? Anyways, about my report?"

Jeremie sighed, before listing off the basic facts behind the science between electricity and chemistry. Odd busily wrote down everything Jeremie said, tongue sticking out the side in concentration.

Both of them suddenly stopped as two of their classmate's conversation came to their ears.

"Hey, did you hear about Sissi? She's in the infirmary."

"What she do, pull a muscle in her brain trying to add two plus two?"

"Nah, man, she was electrocuted. Those two nerds that follow her everywhere – I think their names are Herb and Nicholas – said she was attacked by this monster ball of electricity."

"That's the most stupidest shit I ever heard, maybe they should get checked for fried brains as well."

As the two drifted out the library, Odd leaned in next to Jeremie. "Did you hear that?"

Jeremie only grimaced, before nodding. "Yea. We need to get to the factory. With everyone. Stat. You call Ulrich, and I'll call Danny – since I'm the only one that seems to have his number."

* * *

Danny's iPhone vibrated. He picked it up and answered it, and began to frown. He looked back at Richard.

"Sissi got attacked by an electrical monster. You weren't kidding when you said to be careful."

"No, I wasn't, but you being a part of this was in every future I have been able to see. It was inevitable."

Danny was silent for a moment. "Am I able to die just like the rest of them?"

Richard paused. "Yes, and no. You will lose your human body, but you won't die. You're already a ghost. There's no heart in you, only a core. It's what pumps the liquid through your body, keeping those other organs still alive and running. Most likely, your core will form a completely ghostly body when you lose your human one, but it will be a while. You will also be really weak, until you're able to get to the Ghost Zone and rejuvenate by absorbing the ectoplasm there. You shouldn't ever lose your conscious, though."

Danny stared at the floor, before getting up and opening the door. "They need me, then."

"Yes, and you need them. As much as you need Ember."

Danny smiled slightly, before running through the dorms. "Thanks for understanding, Richard."

With a sigh, Richard gave a tired smile, watching the boy go. "No. Thank _you_, Daniel."

* * *

"Hey, Yumi, I gotta go. My friends are probably worrying where I am, same for you."

Yumi looked down before looking back at Ulrich. "I don't have any friends."

The light above the gym exit started to glow violently, before a giant ball of electricity came out of it. Ulrich became defensive, while Yumi gaped. "Whoah! What is that thing!?"

"No time to explain! Come on, we gotta get out of here!" Ulrich shouted. He grabbed Yumi's wrist and ran, pulling her through the locker rooms, and down to the boiler room. He closed the door and locked it.

"What was that electrical thing! It was as if it was alive!" Yumi shouted. Ulrich was about to answer before his phone rang, which he answered. "Yeah Odd?"

"_Ulrich, great! Head to the factory! Sissi got electrocuted by some giant _– "

"Electric thing? Yeah, the same thing attacked me in the gymnasium." He eyed Yumi, whom kept giving him even more suspicious glares. "This is getting more and more dangerous, Jeremie and his stupid supercomputer."

"_I know, Ulrich, but think, this just means that we have to materialize this Mya chick ASAP. Jeremie called Danny, and he should be meeting up with us soon in the sewer soon._"

"Got it." Ulrich hung up, and turned to go through the door on the other side that led to the sewers. "Sorry Yumi, but I got to go."

"Hey! You seem to know what's going on here. What was that electrical thing that attacked us? And what is this supercomputer you keep talking about?"

"Sorry, but I don't have time to explain." He opened the door and continued down, before Yumi grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Okay, then I guess we can have another round then?"

Ulrich didn't bother shrugging Yumi off. He looked back before smirking. "You're as stubborn as a mule, aren't you?"

"That's right." Yumi also gave a smirk of confidence. "And since I don't have friends, I have lots of time."

Ulrich rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. I'll explain on the way."

* * *

Ulrich and Yumi jumped from the tunnel ledge onto the sewer sidewalk. They heard the sound of footsteps, and saw Odd and Jeremie run toward them.

"Hey, who is this girl? And where's Danny?" Jeremie questioned. He wasn't quite thrilled that the secret had spread.

"This is Yumi, she was there when I was attacked, but she knows how to fight, so I thought…"

"Okay okay, later, but that still doesn't explain where Danny – "

"Is?" The whole group jumped when they saw that Danny was indeed there, standing behind Ulrich and Yumi. "I apparently got here first, but I went down a further ways to see if I was last. Apparently I wasn't."

"Dude! You gotta stop scaring us like that!" Odd exclaimed. Danny only chuckled.

"It's not important how Danny appears, as long as he is here. Let's head to the factory." Odd, Ulrich and Jeremie began running off, and Danny stayed behind with Yumi. She looked very skeptical about the whole thing.

"I head that Ulrich filled you in on everything" Danny started the conversation as they finally began running after them.

"Yea, but you can't really like and tell me what he said was true, can you?"

Danny only shrugged. "Hey, what might be scientifically impossible probably isn't. The chance of something like this being real is almost the same as being born _you_."

Yumi only sighed. This kid had a point. "The one time I actually try to make friends at a new school, and they turn out to be crazy…"

Danny laughed and stopped both Yumi and him, throwing an arm over her shoulder. "You're not the only one new to this school, you know. I've already been deemed some sort of abnormality. They're not that bad, plus they were the only ones not to judge me because of my naturally white hair." Yumi's eyebrows rose in shock. "In fact, I'm surprised you haven't said anything, yet."

"It's impossible to have white hair so young!"

"Yet here I am." Danny grinned, before he urged Yumi to continue running with him to catch up with the others.

* * *

"So whose this Mya, anyways?" Yumi asked as Jeremie exited the elevator, heading into the computer room.

"You'll find out soon enough, after you take the big plunge." Jeremie replied, with a smirk at his clever metaphor.

Yumi looked confused. "Big plunge? But I don't have a bathing suit."

"Relax!" Odd laughed. "You won't be needing one."

The elevator started down again, until it opened up into the scanner room. Yumi saw Odd and Ulrich walk into two of the four containers, before they closed on them. "Don't tell me you're scared" Ulrich taunted, smirking at Yumi as his door closed.

Danny walked up to his cylinder, but turned around. "Seeing is believing, Yumi. But you can't believe unless you ready to accept what you see." And with that, Danny took a step back into his scanner, and the door closed around him too.

Yumi thought over what Danny said. At least he didn't say something along the lines of 'You only live once, Yumi.' "Wait, I'm coming too!" Yumi ran into the final scanner.

* * *

"Mya, can you hear me?"

"Jeremie! I'm being chase by monsters!"

"Why did you leave the tower before we got there!? Are you crazy!?"

"I kept hearing strange pulsations; I wanted to see what they were! They've been chasing me since I first tower hopped to a Mountain sector, and now I'm in the Ice sector!"

Jeremie sighed. "Okay, I'm sending you back up. Just try to hide somewhere!"

Jeremie quickly began typing in the virtualization codes onto his computer, as Mya started jumping across some ice in the middle of a virtual lake. One of the block monsters tried to follow her, but it quickly slipped and fell, never to resurface. The other one was smart enough not to continue.

Mya's ice floated over to a hole in the side of a wall, obviously a tunnel. She jumped in just at the block fired a laser at where Mya once was.

"Scanner, Ulrich; Scanner, Odd; Scanner, Yumi; Scanner, Danny." A screen popped up with the list of their Lyoko forms, except for Yumi. She was just an orange question mark.

"Transfer, Ulrich; Transfer, Odd; Transfer, Yumi; Transfer, Danny." The profiles started to light up, each making a noise as they were uploaded.

"Virtualization!" And with that, Jeremie hit the enter button, and all four teens below him were split into molecules, being sent into the wires connecting to the supercomputer.

* * *

Ulrich, Odd, and Danny were virtualized pretty quickly. They landed on their feet, squatting for impact. They didn't want to land on their butts like last time.

"Hey, I'm still a giant purple cat." Odd seemed depressed, but Danny noticed something rather off about the front of the outfit.

"Odd, what's that on your chest?" He pointed to a circular insignia.

"What's on my chest?" Odd looked down, and Danny resisted the urge to flick upward from where he was pointing to thump Odd's nose.

Odd continued to stare at before he started to… laugh. Really hard.

Both Ulrich and Danny looked at him funny. "What is it Odd? What's so funny?"

"What Danny just pointed out! It's- It's my dog, Kiwi – " He began to laugh uncontrollably again. Danny and Ulrich now looked closer at what they could now recognize as the dog in the yellow circle, but there was a dotted black line coming out from underneath Kiwi…

"Is that suppose to be…" Ulrich started, before laughing uncontrollably himself.

Danny, however, put his bandaged right hand to his face in clear exasperation. Lyoko had jokes as well. Cool. "Just when you couldn't get away from Odd's jokes, he becomes one."

"Hey! I resent that!" Odd shouted, before falling into laughter again. Danny couldn't help it anymore, as he began to laugh too. It was such an absurd situation, yet the laughter really made him feel normal again.

They hadn't noticed Yumi, who just finished being virtualized, fall on her butt. "Ow!"

The boys stopped and turned around, while Danny walked over to help her up. She was dressed like a geisha – she wore a black and red kimono on her torso, and red leggings ran down her legs, going into hiding underneath her black boots. A huge yellow sash ran around the front of her midsection, tied into a bow in the back. Her face was powdered white.

"Wow! That's a nice Japanese outfit!" Odd exclaimed. "I mean, I still look like a nitwit here, but at least I found some sort of class in it!" He started laughing again.

"So, I'm guessing this Lyoko." Yumi deadpanned, looking around at the ice. "It's not much."

"Actually, Yumi" Jeremie stated, his voice traveling around them, "There's three other sectors just like this, but they are all completely different. Now move it guys! Mya needs you!"

They began running off in the direction Jeremie told him.

* * *

Sissi opened her eyes to see the faces of her dad, Jim and the nurse staring down at her. "What happened? Where am I?"

"The infirmary, dear. You'll be fine, you must have electrocuted yourself."

"Electro – Oh no! It was that super-what-cha-ma-call-it of Jeremie's at the factory! Where's Ulrich!?"

Her dad was starting to get worried. "I don't know dear, but please, stay calm."

"No! Ulrich is in great danger!" Seeing that she couldn't just mention Ulrich, Sissi went on. "So are Odd and Jeremie and that new kid with that white hair! There's an electrical monster on the loose!"

Mr. Delmas sighed, and placing a hand on Sissi, he pushed her back into bed. "Calm down, Sissi."

Jim however, was getting a kick out of this. "Sure there is, and a giant chemical teddy bear too."

"No!" Sissi got back up. "I'm not crazy! Jeremie found this giant computer inside the abandoned factory. They use it to go into this other world were monsters shoot lightning!"

* * *

The group found Mya, surrounded by three blocks. Ulrich immediately ran up to one of them and stabbed it in its symbol, destroying it. He quickly jumped to fight off another block as Odd guarded Mya.

"Hey, are you Mya? I'm Odd! And I have to admit, you are a real cutie! I can see why Jeremie has a thing for you."

Ulrich jumped in front of Odd and deflected a stray laser. "No time for flirting, Odd!"

Meanwhile, Danny brought out two darts that he held backwards in his defensive stance. His natural reflexes brought each one up rotationally to continuously deflect his block's laser. He couldn't seem to find an opening to throw one.

Yumi was standing behind him, trying to find her weapon. "Hey, I don't have a weapon!" She turned to look at her back as a closed fan popped out from behind her bow. She flicked it open.

"A fan? That's it?"

"Try throwing it, you never know." Danny grumbled, more focused on the attacks that seem to be coming quicker and quicker. Suddenly, he saw a circular item glowing red and white, slashing through his block before cutting across Ulrich's block, destroying both of them. He watched it twist in the air and go back to Yumi's hand.

"Not bad." Ulrich commented.

"I think I'll keep it." Yumi exclaimed. She was enjoying this place more and more.

The five grouped together as Jeremie was heard again. "Nice work! Now bring Mya in to the red tower behind you so you can materialize her."

Jeremie continued typing on his computer, and opened up one of the security cameras in the factory. The glowing orb was searching for them in that main hallway. "Odd, I think I found an example for your electrochemistry report."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"A nice little electric monster… Where are you guys?"

"Closing in on the towers!" Ulrich replied.

"Get going, then! Things are about to get a little jumpy over here!"

As the five were headed to the glowing red tower, Danny realized it was quiet. Too quiet. He held out his arm and stopped Mya, and Yumi and Ulrich stopped as well next to him. Odd continued going, until two giant red crab things appeared from behind the rocks in front of the tower.

"Watch it guys, there's some more monsters coming your way!"

"Kind of late there, Jeremie." Danny deadpanned. He side-stepped protectively in front of Mya.

Odd however, seemed to find the situation as a joke. "Great, crab! Who brought the tartar sauce!"

Danny grunted in response as he pulled Mya away behind one of the rocks nearby. Odd and Ulrich both ran the opposite directions, running around two rocks to attack the crabs from behind. Odd shot and arrow at the crab, but it didn't seem to do any damage. Ulrich managed to run up another rock and jump on top of his, riding it like a surfboard before falling off.

The keyboard lit up as Jeremie was typing, and he looked up, only to see the electric ball stalking him, like a lion does his prey. Jeremie yelled in fear.

Odd had climbed up one of the rocks, exchanging shots with the crab, each missing the other. Yumi then ran forward, and twisting open her fan, she threw it… only for it to be deflected off the exterior of the crab.

"Wow! Not only are these guys ugly, but their tough." Odd managed to proclaim before he was shot off the rock, devirtualized. The crab then set its attention on Yumi, who had started to tactfully run away.

As Yumi's crab past, Danny gripped onto his dart tighter, glaring at it. But he knew what Mya had to do.

"Mya." He said, turning around. "You need to get to the tower. Now. Jeremie is in trouble, and Ulrich and Yumi aren't going to stay up against both of those crabs for long."

Mya only nodded, and Danny grabbed her hand, and squeezed it. "Good luck, and see you soon."

She began to run in its direction, and watching her go, Danny stepped out into the battle field behind the crabs. He saw Yumi propel Ulrich with her feet onto the crab again, but this time he stabbed the symbol on top. The crab buckled, and then exploded.

"That's it!" Danny shouted. "Aim for the symbols!"

But just at that moment, the other crab shot Yumi in the leg, and she fell.

"Yumi!" Ulrich yelled, and then ran at the crab, jumping to stab this one as well. The crab caught him with one of its long, red legs, and threw him aside like a rag doll. Ulrich hit a wall, and was devirtualized upon impact. The crab once again set its attention on Yumi, and Danny started running to stop it, but it was too late. The crab blasted Yumi again, devirtualizing her as well.

Enraged, Danny threw a dart forcibly at the crab, causing it to stumble back. He grabbed another, and holding it like he did to block previous shots, he slashed at the crabs legs, causing it to fall over. It moved feebly as Danny stood over it, cold thoughts running through his eyes. However, a decision was soon made, and he struck the crab on the head with the point of the dagger, causing it to explode upon impact.

He stared at the spot where the crab was once there, before realizing that pure hatred had filled his mind during his attack. Why did that happen? He shook himself, looking back to see Mya finally enter the tower.

He started to move, but a sudden pain hit him in the back. He looked down to see a sword sticking out through his chest. It hurt so much, the pain felt so real. He should be back in the scanner on Earth from this hit. But the process of devirtualization wasn't happening.

The panic ebbed away as his mind began to cloud. Danny began to lose balance. But he didn't fall. Something was holding him. And it _felt _cold. He felt something brush against his ear, but his eyes couldn't move to see what it was. He was in shock, and afraid. Danny was afraid. A deep voice, much like Morgan Freeman's, except darker, started to chuckle.

"You have done well, young ghost." The evil voice sneered. "At first I was surprised to find one of my own, trapped in the same world as I. But then I realized you are working with the _girl_." He could feel the cold gaze move to the tower for a moment, before returning back down to him. "Unfortunate, really. I don't really need two powerful enemies. And hear you stood, wondering what was going on. Why you lost control. Such an easy picking."

The sword seemed to move deeper into him, and Danny whimpered in pain. "Hush, child. Your death will be over soon. You won't ever lose control again." The voice paused, before laughing as if it just realized something. "But then again, you were taken care of too easily today. The queen piece, defeated after only one move of play? It's almost suicide."

"What do you want from me?" Danny whispered. He was finding it hard to focus anymore, plus the chess analogy really stuck in his mind. Through half lidded eyes, he saw the tower turn to the regular blue. The voice huffed in annoyance.

"The amount of time that tower was operated could have easily gave me a window to take over Earth if I had enough power. But I guess you just have to stay patient in crash courses, don't you, Danny."

"You know my name." Danny muttered.

"Of course I do. With almost total control over the workings of Lyoko, I'm bound to know everything that comes into my prison."

But that's when Danny realized something with his fading thoughts. "You controlled that tower, didn't you?"

"Why yes, I believe I did."

"So when Jeremie said…"

The voice laughed again, much longer this time. "You mean the kid behind the computer? He's over his head, child. You know that as well."

"She can't be devitualized."

"Because _I _say she can't be devirtualized." The voice finished. He quickly jolted Danny to keep him awake. "She is a threat to my plan, and she must be erased from the system and world. Completely. You, on the other hand, I now have many plans for you."

He saw smoky tendrils come into view and form a screen. It displayed himself, standing next to a shadow. All his green features had become red, and on his right pectoral he had been imprinted with a large symbol, just like the monsters. Dark lines were under his eyes. "You will become my own apprentice, my closest deputy. You will be mine. Ghosts have to stick together, Danny, and what better way than have control over the world?"

Danny began to cough. "I can't take over any world. I'm not evil. I don't have it in me." He wheezed, before mustering a weak glare out of his eyes. "I already have people looking over me. I'm already happy."

"Tsk tsk, Danny. We can't have rebellion already. You act like you really have a choice, when you're so close to dying again." But the sword disappeared from his chest. He began to feel his body slowly devirtualize as he collapsed on the ground. But the voice wasn't done.

"Just so we're clear, I'll let you live. I'll let you go on, acting like you're really saving the day. For now. But you're true side will come out. It's funny, because you _do_ have it in you. You're evil side. It came out, already. Do you know how I know this, Danny? Because you're just like me. And if you expose me, and not let them believe what they want to believe, I'll expose you. Can you really convince them that you transcended evil when it's _encoded _into you're DNA?"

And with that, Danny devirtualized, alive in his scanner. But he hadn't felt so dead since the accident.

"You swore to us you wouldn't tell!" Danny could hear Ulrich yell from above. They were all up there – Yumi, Odd, Ulrich, Jeremie, as well as Sissi, Mr. Delmas – whom Danny realized was Sissi's father in horror – and Jim. He painfully made himself invisible and floated up to the room above him, to see what was going on.

Sissi gasped at what Ulrich said, and then glared. "I came to save you Ulrich – and what's this Chinese girl doing here!"

"I am Japanese!" Yumi roared in anger. Sissi took a step back. Jeremie was quickly trying to type something on the computer.

"You're nothing but a rotten traitor!" Ulrich spat.

"No more than you are with love, Ulrich darling!"

"Enough! Belpois, turn this off now!" ordered Principal Delmas.

Jeremie ignored him and looked at Ulrich. "Did Mya materialize?"

"No… and neither did Danny."

"I don't know what's going on here Jeremie, but you will turn this thing off! You and your friends are in a whole lot of trouble, and when I find young Daniel, he might just be expelled!"

"That's not fair!" Yumi protested.

"Life's not fair, Ms. Ishiyama! So unless you wish to be expelled, too, you will be quiet!"

"No." Jeremie answered, before typing something else into the window. A confirmation screen came up.

Principal Delmas was flustered beyond belief. "No!? Was it a question to be answered!? What do you think you're even doing?"

"Launching a new program; with a little luck, it will work."

"What kind of program?" Ulrich questioned. Odd stood behind him and gasped –Jeremie wasn't really going to…

With a push of the enter button, a white beam shot up from the center of the floor. "Return to the Past now!"

* * *

Ulrich looked around to see him and Odd with his hair down again, drinking some juice. Yumi had just turned around from getting herself some.

"What happened anyway, what are we doing here?" Ulrich was completely confused. Odd was feeling his hair, trying to make sure it wasn't in its spike anymore – so Jeremie's time machine program DID work.

"But we were doing this yesterday, you don't think…"

Jeremie sauntered up, pulling out a coin to get something from the juice/soup machine. He didn't look at his three friends.

"Einstein, you're a genius! You're Return to the Past worked!" Odd told Jeremie excitedly. Jeremie jolted a little, seemingly unaware of whom was talking to him. "Huh? What's that? What are you talking about?"

They all stared at him in disbelief. "You haven't forgotten about the supercomputer and Lyoko and my big purple cat costume, have you?"

Jeremie quickly turned around, panicked. "You all know about Lyoko?"

"This is weird. It's like the return in time didn't quite work on him."

Ulrich threw his half empty cup of juice over his shoulder. It hit one of Sissi's nerds, Herb, in the face, as well as getting him all wet. He glowered at the group before returning back to his dorm to change.

Ulrich, not noticing, took a hold of Jeremie's shoulder. "Come on, we're going to fill you in. You have to meet someone else as well."

* * *

Danny stared disbelievingly at the walls. "I just painted these yesterday!" Danny cried, until he looked at his phone. Wait, today WAS yesterday. Did he really just go back in time? Richard _had_ warned him about painting so early…

Whatever. He was still pissed about having to repaint again when someone knocked on his door. He opened it to reveal Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi standing there, with a very confused Jeremie.

Ulrich whistled at the walls. "Wow, tough break."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it." He stuck a finger into Jeremie's chest. "You're little return in time program just reset the five hours that I had spent painting my walls tomorrow."

"Umm." Jeremie squirmed underneath his friendly glare. "Why is your hair white?" Danny laughed at that; it was becoming really funny now how people reacted whenever they saw him.

"Come on, boy wonder, let's see what your problem is."

* * *

A few hours passed before the team was finished explaining what had happened the present two days. Jeremie was thinking hard.

"Why would I not remember this?"

"Maybe because you weren't digitalized onto Lyoko." Yumi suggested. It was the only real reason anyone could think of.

"Well then, tomorrow I'm going to the factory first thing and scanning myself."

"No Jeremie." Mya stopped him from continuing. "We have to shut down the supercomputer. It's too dangerous."

"But Mya –"

"Aellita." The pink haired girl winked. (**AN: FINALLY FFS HOLY**). "When I went into the tower, I remembered my name!" (**AN: Y****OU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND HOW MANY TIMES I HAD TO REWRITE AELITA AS MYA**)

"Aelita… that's even better than Mya!" Jeremie practically beamed, however, he became flustered again. "But, what about bringing you in? I promised!" He turned to the group. "Give me one more night to work it out, I promise I'll find a way."

The four teens looked at each other, and smiled. "Okay." Ulrich answered for all of them. "We'll meet up in the computer lab tomorrow morning to see how you're doing."

The four left Jeremie's room until a high pitched "Ulrich!" shouted out from down the hallway. Ulrich had missed his date with Sissi… again. She was tapping her foot impatiently. "What are you doing here? I've been waiting for an hour! I've NEVER been stood up like this before!"

"There's always a first time." Ulrich deadpanned. "Now if you excuse me, I'm hanging out with my friends."

"I'll make you pay! Do you hear me, Ulrich!?"

"I have a bad feeling about this girl, Sissi. I get the idea she's going to give us a lot of grief." Odd muttered his breath as the gang began walking again.

"I think we can deal with a baton twirling buffoon, Odd." Danny muttered back. The group laughed as they left the building, walking Yumi back home for the night.

* * *

When Danny returned back, he once again found the boxes stacked in the corner of his room. "Well, at least Richard knew when to drop them off again without me seeing them…"

Danny sighed and pulled out the boxes with the tarps and the paints. He looked over at the iHome. 9:30. Ember will be showing up sometime around 2:00-ish. That gave him enough time to at least finish painting the walls again. Laying out the tarp, Danny stripped down to some work pants, and began painting again.

It was around 1:30 when it was done. The room definitely was darker, the paint almost midnight – absorbing any light that was emitted on it. However, it did make the room seem much larger. Danny packed up all the painting supplies again, but he didn't move to get rid of them. He looked up at his newly black ceiling, smiling at his soon-to-be best project. It will come last.

Danny walked over to the other boxes, digging through the furniture ones. How Richard was able to decrease the box size to seem almost normal, Danny had no idea. Maybe he had the Box Ghost help him.

Suddenly, he saw a package that didn't look like furniture. How did he miss this one the other day? He opened it, pulling out a note on top of a wrapped present.

_Daniel – _

_This box contains a little surprise that you will need in the future. Probably when something physically fascinating happens. You'll know when to look inside._

– _Richard._

Confused, Danny put the box aside. He looked back to his iHome again. 1:45. He turned off the lamp, and darkness entered the room. He laid down into his bead, his burgundy pants on – he wasn't about to have Ember see him in boxers again.

It was about 1:57 when the cold racked his body, the blue mist escaping his mouth. He had to learn how to control that sense. But he still closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.

He felt Ember suddenly appear in his room. He slightly opened an eye a bit to see her staring at him, with a thoughtful gaze on her face. But then a smile appeared, and she floated down to the chair by the bed, and sat in it. She rested her head on her crossed arms that spread across the back of the chair.

Now was the perfect time to say something. Danny kept his eyes closed, though. "I was expecting you a little earlier than now, ghost girl."

This jolted Ember a bit. She stared at the teen that she once thought was sleeping. "How did you know I was coming?"

"Just figured." The white-haired kid sat up, his somewhat defined but still lanky body illuminated the darkness with Ember. He hadn't ever really noticed his luminescence; but then again, there was always another light source to hide it. He smiled at her. "I don't really want to be caught awake right now, so do you want to go to the roof?"

Ember just stared, before slowly nodding in confusion.

"Great." Danny took her hand, and together they phased out the window and then flew up on top of the roof. There, Danny laid down again, looking up to the stars. He gestured Ember to do the same, and she did, but she wasn't looking at the stars. She was still looking at him.

"You know, Ember, this is getting pretty awkward with you just staring at me."

"You know about me?"

"Yea, why wouldn't I? I've seen your band on TV, and I recognized you. Didn't expect you to be a ghost though."

"Ha, yeah." She looked up to the stars, wondering why she hadn't ever really looked at them before. It was strangely fascinating. "You just seem so different than what I thought."

"What would that be? Some sort of overly malevolent ghost?" He wished he didn't say that now – his mind went back to what happened on Lyoko. But it wasn't the time to think about that, so he pushed it away.

"Well, yeah." She was really blunt about this. "You being a halfa and all, you would be one of the most powerful ghosts of our kind. No one could stop you. What most of us would kill for to get that kind of power."

Danny looked over at Ember. "You wouldn't kill to be a perfect mix of two species, yet be considered neither, would you?"

"I thought I did. I thought I was going to come and make you join me, to use you. You're a new ghost, so it would have been easy." She shook her head. "But you seem so much older than that. Plus, I get this strange feeling of protection coming from you, and it makes_ me_ want to protect you, too. It could just be your obsession."

She looked over at the white haired teen, who was giving her a confused look. She laughed. "Now that's the dipstick I was expecting. An obsession is what drives a ghost to exist. Yours, I'm guessing, is protection. Not many ghosts have an obsession so selfless like yours." She materialized a guitar in her hands. "Mine is basically to be known. Have somebody that actually cares for me…" she began to strum a mellow tune, until Danny's hand stopped her hand.

"You know, you do have someone that cares right now." She looked up into his glowing green eyes. They were intoxicating, and they consumed her with comfort. She began to smile softly.

"Thanks…"

"Danny. That's my name; I figured you should at least know."

"Danny." Ember repeated to herself. She strummed a happier progression, until she sat up.

"Danny, do you want to hang out? Get to know each other a little more? Just fly around the city, do something…"

"I don't know, Ember, I'm not really supposed to leave campus. It's for my own benefit, so that people can't find me. I guess you can say I'm in hiding."

Ember was shocked. "Danny, I had no idea –"

"Its okay, Ember." Danny cut in. "You haven't done anything, yet. You're fine. In fact, I really do want to go with you. If there was just some way…"

White rings appeared around Danny's waist, and they began to travel up his body. Both were shocked silent until the glow of them was gone.

"Ember, what was that?" She didn't respond. "Ember?"

"Dude, look." She held up a metallic part on the guitar that could act as a mirror. He looked into it and gasped. The white hair on his head had turned black, and his eyes – they still glowed, but they were now a deep, icy blue. His skin was a little paler.

"What the _hell_ happened!?"

"You changed your appearance, and lost your pants…" Ember snickered, and Danny realized he indeed lost his pants, his black and white boxers once again in full view of Ember. He growled in annoyance and blushed red. He focused on becoming normal again, and the rings once again passed over, white hair and pants appearing again. "Seems like for your _own_ protection, you're able to change your appearance into that. You're definitely not a shape-shifting ghost, though, so this is quite rare. Do you know what other powers you have?"

"Besides flying, invisibility, intangibility – " He started to sink through the roof, and Ember pulled him back up " – and what just happened, no."

"Well, you're going to need to know more. You can't just protect yourself with something as simple as an appearance change. Come on, with that new look, you can probably leave school grounds now, and I can teach you some as we go around this city of love."

Danny perked up. "Hey, you're right!" He remembered Richard's secret package, and then smiled. Richard new this was going to happen. "And I have something for it that just might work."_  
_

* * *

"So, did you find anything?"

"Yes; XANA."

"XANA? What's that?"

"A super dangerous program, like a virus except it can control electricity and activate towers on Lyoko to gain access to your world."

"So the red tower, the electricity monster, the weird symbol, the monsters of Lyoko – all of that was XANA?"

"Yes. Only Aelita can counter it by deactivating the tower it uses for attacks in the real world."

"Well that's great." Ulrich deadpanned. Jeremie and Aelita basically laid out the characteristics of a virtual super villain for the four teens asking questions. Well, three. Danny was unusually quiet the whole time.

"I can do it, but I'll need some time. It's dangerous – XANA could attack at any moment."

"Be reasonable, Jeremie." Aelita announced. "We better just shut this thing down."

Everyone was silent until Ulrich spoke up. "So now that we know how to neutralize XANA, we just have to get Aelita to an activated tower!"

"Yea!" Odd inputted "We can counter the attacks while Einstein figures out how to bring Aelita back to Earth."

The three boys looked at Yumi and Danny. Yumi sighed. "It's risky." But then smiled. "But I think we should."

That only left Danny. He looked up suddenly at everyone, and grinned sheepishly. "After all, we are Lyoko Warriors, aren't we?"

Cheers from Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie echoed through the room.

"You really think you can do it?" Aelita asked Jeremie.

He smirked. "They don't call me Einstein for nothing!"

He then turned to the group. "In a few weeks, I should have it all figured out. But until then, let's not forget about our pact, huh?"

"Don't worry." Yumi laughed. "_We_ all know how to keep a secret."

Laughs echoed throughout the chamber, but Danny wasn't laughing. No, he was worried. _You're just like me_. XANA was no computer program. He was a ghost. A very malicious ghost. He was trapped on Lyoko for a reason. And he wanted Danny. He was evil, Danny wasn't evil. He never will be evil. He hoped.

_Can you really convince them that you transcended evil when it's encoded into you're DNA?_

Danny silently made his way out of the room and left. He needed to think. To get away. He flew out over the factory and high up into the sky, the air rushing past his skin and through his hair, trying to soothe his ill mind.

Through a monitoring camera, XANA chuckled. The seed of doubt has been planted.

* * *

**That, my friends, was 12,076 words long. WITHOUT THE AN. Last 2 chapters were just over 6000 with the AN. oops.**

**So, yea, pilot is over, now to move to the terrible graphics of Season 1. Meh, its spotty plot line is still better than half of season 3 *rolls eyes*  
I have my work cut out for me. That's all I'm saying.  
**

**OMG DANNY AND EMBER AH (faints) i'm actually excited about this guys. Ember may play a few major rolls in some chapters but she might fall back to just being a minor. BUT THERE'S PLANS FOR HER, HEHE.  
**

**I still haven't introduced everybody (obviously) but trust me, this isn't going to be a "have a problem and they fix it" flic. That problem is going to snowball. And fixing it might require many fix its.**

**So i believe i edited it the best I could (I started adding to the story again and then I stopped myself and was like "NOOOO" but i like what I did to try to make it more fluid) so once again feel free to just be like "hey this doesn't make sense" or something like "you spelt lasagna wrong" hey i don't know maybe even SUGGESTIONS (gasps). My slate's pretty open.**

**I don't know if I like what I did with XANA but oh well, it works. I was hoping to bring him in because I always thought of him as more than just a computer program, and a trapped ghost works out purrfectly!**

**Once again, sorry 4 the wait. Next chapter will be up hopefully within the next week! HAVE A GREAT EASTER EVERYONE!**


	5. Teddy Bears Gone Wild

**uh, hey guys... *dodges multiple shoes***

**OKAY OKAY I'M SORRY but the last two weeks have been pretty frantic and I never really had time to complete it. I did start right after I posted the last chapter, but then this ball of stupidity and complications kept rolling and growing bigger, and then it sucked up my time to write.**

**Okay, half-lie. I wrote an Easter oneshot that literally made me cry during the read-over, and then another oneshot/drabble for Dannyversary last Tuesday, and then a songfic I only uploaded to Tumblr. But really though, those all only took me only an hour to write (Easter was like 2). THESE TAKE ME LIKE 5. (this wasn't promoting my other stories or anything because I really don't give a damn but really, I scared myself when I realized how well I can sometimes write Angst).**

**You can probably tell the times that I was struggling to write this, and the other times I wasn't pressured and it sounds actually pleasant. oops.**

**ANYWAYS**

**Season 1 has now started. Danny is learning more and more about his new body and life. But what happens when two separate lives start becoming tangled?**

**princessbinas: do you have a crystal ball or something**

**nightmaster000: Ember is not going to be a Kadic student. Someone else might, but much, _much_, later. The Ember arc has just started ;)**

**The Virus & Sparxthehdgehog (more of a reply to Sparx): because Danny's powers are continuously fluctuating and due to the impressionable teenage mind he can be twisted and formed to whatever he is influenced by why the HELL would you pass the chance to kill someone that can be powerful AND evil.**

**UltimateLyokoWarrior: swag level over 9000 *Vegeta kill yourself***

**monkeygirlz3: *whispers into wind* okay**

**Stonefaced610: MY GOD THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME ABOUT THE GRAMMAR. SHIT NOW I LOOK RETARDED *face palms* but yea, I definitely want to show progression just like canon Danny Phantom does, and hopefully keep Code Lyoko OC (writing straight from script helps with this a lot) but those extra moments with Danny can get a little bit out of character. I'm trying to keep Jeremie analytical, Yumi mature/protective/sister-like, Odd ignorant comedic relief yet truly does care, and Ulrich the cautious, curios boy that he is that truly wants to protect everyone. sounds a lot like someone hmm?**

**please realize that a month has gone by between this chapter and the last one JUST LIKE THE SERIES**

* * *

"There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers.  
We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."  
-Ronald Reagan

_Chapter III - Teddy Bears Gone Wild_

* * *

"Ember, stop, please!"

"How come, skater boy?"

"We've been doing this for hours!"

"Come on, baby pop. I think its fun to watch you suffer!"

"_I _don't…"

"Fine, one last time, Danny, okay?"

Grumbling, Danny got into position once again. Ember smirked, and then slung her guitar around back into her hands. She clicked to a setting, and then suddenly strummed downward on the strings, producing a giant pink fist heading towards the ghost boy.

Danny brought his arms up and crossed them. Closing his eyes in focus, a green shield appeared in front of him. He opened his eyes and began to smirk, only to flinch as the pink fist burst upon the shield. It faded slightly, but then stabilized again, right before another fist hit it.

"You need to retaliate, dip stick! That was the point of practicing to begin with! Not only to hold off attacks, but to have your own as well!"

"I can always just punch and kick!" Danny yelled, still focusing on the shield. It was so much harder to practice his ghost powers in this form, for some of his energy was used to keep up the transformation. Ember said it would become easier, but Danny was having doubts. He couldn't even hover three inches over the ground.

But it wasn't like he hadn't been improving. The normal ghost traits were _way_ easier to control now. He was never randomly underneath his bed anymore when he woke up, no longer smashed his head onto a desk when his arm involuntarily became intangible, and _definitely_ wasn't losing his pants anymore. Out of all the 'incidents' Danny had, he was surprised when no one pressed him further. Just the casual comment such as "that's what happens when you fall asleep in class" or "you should get a tighter belt." Not even the teachers wondered how he spoke fluent French, yet couldn't read _anything_ that was written in the language.

"Yet how are you going to do that when your enemy is flying thirty feet away from you?" A fifth punch sent Danny spiraling into the tree behind him. He heard Ember laughing, and growling playfully, he focused on his right hand, suddenly emblazed in the same green as his shield once was. He held it up to Ember, and a beam out blazed outward. She yelped as she fell from the sky.

Danny phased off the debris from his encounter with the tree and walked casually over to Ember. Her fiery hair was full of twigs, and mud covered her clothes. Danny chuckled and pulled her up, phasing the mess off her as well. Ember glared at him before she muttered "That was great, dork," then walked off in the opposite direction.

Danny sighed, and changing back to his normal white-haired self, he flew up behind Ember and embraced her from behind. She only huffed and tried to struggle out of it. Danny only response was to nuzzle his face into her neck.

"Come on, Ember…" he whispered, before chanting her name into the ear next to him. Ember began to smile a little, her hair glowing brighter and becoming bigger.

"Stop it, I'm mad at you." Ember half-pouted. But she couldn't deny it – she loved the attention, the spotlight. It was part of the obsession after all.

"Quit lying, candy dimple." Danny taunted with a nickname before releasing her. He watched her turn around to look at him.

"Even though you basically broke my pride and ruined my fun, I guess I… forgive you." They hugged for a moment, before Danny's iPhone buzzed. 3:00AM.

Ember huffed again. "I don't understand why you can't just stay out until morning comes."

"Because I'm half human, idiot." Danny smiled at the annoyance on his friend's face. His girlfriend's face. "Just because I need less sleep doesn't mean I shouldn't sleep."

"Whatever."

Danny transformed back into his disguise. It was a dark navy jacket, with a silver zipper that was pulled all the way up. The sleeves went down into a bunch on his elbows, exposing the rest of the arm. Tight black pants stretched across his legs. Both his fingerless gloves and boots were the same dark navy as the jacket, except with white accenting. His hood was pulled up halfway over his head just like half of the kids in America. Ember then grabbed him underneath his shoulders and flew back to his dorm, a mile away from the park they had found to practice in.

She dropped him onto the floor. "Jesus, once you can finally know how to master your ectoplasmic shit, we really need to find out if you can teleport, or at least be able to fly again."

"Something wrong, dear?" Danny asked as sickeningly sweet as he could.

"Besides the fact I have to fly you like a mother carries a baby, and that you seem to weigh as much as a backpack full of bricks… nothing, darling."

Danny kissed her on the cheek. "I'm not that heavy, _dipstick_."

"It could help to lose a few pounds while I'm gone touring in Germany."

"I only weigh 105, Ember. That's crazy skinny for male humans. I've seen you lift a parked bus."

"That's still too fat in terms of sexy half-ghost baby pops. But there's always an exception." She winked. "_Try_ to stay out of trouble while I'm touring – I already cause enough as it is."

He shrugged. "Like I could do anything, anyways. Might as well keep practicing without you."

"Awesome. Because the less time needing to practice this stuff – " she was nearly inches from Danny's face now " – will lead to more time practicing the _fun_ stuff."

Danny turned red from embarrassment, and Ember laughed again. "It's so cute to see you so clueless and pure, Danny." She kissed him on the forehead in a parting goodbye. "See you within a month, sugar cake."

* * *

Danny groaned as his phone went through a third replay of an electronic remix of Kanye West's _Good Morning_. An ironic alarm choice, as he wished he could continue sleeping. He hadn't expected waking up early on a _Saturday_ of all days to have classes, even if it was a half day. And now today was Sunday, so he had to make up for his lost Saturday morning sleep and just lay there until the dance tonight…

His slowly closing eyes snapped open. "Shit!" Danny yelled, and jumped down from the loft bed and went to his dresser, pulling out his clothes and throwing them on in quick succession. He grabbed his phone and looked at the time. 12:30.

He cursed again before flying out the window. He pulled up the call log to see five missed calls from his friends. He flicked open Ulrich's to start the call back as he started flying to the vending machines, planning to buy food for all of them since he was definitely late.

"_Danny, where are you? Set up started at eight and Sissi's has already memorized half of her acceptance speech!"_

Danny chuckled. "Hey, let up. She may not even get it."

"_She'll get it alright; she's the principal's daughter. Why wouldn't she?"_

"I don't know, except the fact that there are way hotter girls in our school."

Danny heard an "_Amen!_" in the background, sounding something like Odd. "Do you have me on speaker?"

"_Of course, bleachhead!" _Odd's voice rang out. _"I even called you twice, and that's a shock! We all assumed you have died in your sleep!"_

"You could say that." Danny mused, clicking the buttons for some drinks and food. "I'm sorry guys, I'm getting us some grub because I'm hungry and you guys probably missed lunch."

"_Yea, just make sure you get a triple order for Odd, though._" Yumi finally sounded. _"And don't you have a girlfriend? I don't think she'll like hearing you call other girls hot."_

"Nah." Danny pressed some more buttons to get more food for Odd. "It's a pretty relaxed relationship."

"_If you say so…" _Yumi sighed, but was interrupted by Odd. "_When are we going to meet this imaginary girl anyways, Danny?"_

"When you're able to eat like a civilized being." Danny retorted, smirking. "You might want to watch it, or I might just buy you the soup."

"_Okay, okay. Just beat Jeremie here. It'll look even worse when the boy who doesn't look like he even does physical activity outdoes one of Jim's star athletes." _There was the sound of a punch on the arm followed by an indignant "_Hey!_" before Ulrich's voice filtered through the speaker, scolding the comedian. _"You really don't know when to stop, do you?"_

"Jeremie is probably working on something important anyways, Odd. He does as much, or probably even more, than all of us combined." He picked up everything that he bought, trying to balance it in his arms. A bag of Doritos fell, and Danny lazily kicked it back up on top of the pile in his arms. "I got everything. Be there in five."

* * *

"Don't look so gloomy, Ulrich." Yumi commented to the teen that was placing tape down over the audio and microphone wires. She herself was making sure everything was plugged in correctly. "Is it because of Milly? You could have said yes."

"Yes to what?" Danny kicked open the door to the wood floor gym, carefully walking inside and setting the food and drinks on the stage. Odd quickly rushed over and grabbed a can of Sprite and the bag of Doritos, yelling "Thanks, Dan!" as he scurried back behind the stage.

"Sissi was being Sissi." Ulrich deadpanned, smoothing out the piece of tape he just laid. For the third time.

"Seems more than that." Danny looked to Yumi for information.

"You know how Milly and Tamiya are the school reporters, right? The junior students? Well, Sissi thought they became a little too comfortable for her standards, and – "

"Basically crushed their spirits. Sounds like her." Why did it seem like Casper High all over again? Sissi nearly perfected being a clone of Paulina, except she didn't have the beauty. He shook his head, trying to forget about the past. He needed to focus on the present. "That doesn't explain why Ulrich still hasn't recovered from a Sissi encounter."

Ulrich stood up. "She made Milly ask me if I would want to go to the dance with her."

"And he could have said yes. It wouldn't have hurt me, this isn't prom." Yumi half-glared at Ulrich. She hated Sissi a lot more than the rest of them, and Yumi was up to doing anything that could put the brat in her place.

"So I could be your date, then?" Odd teased as he came out from the back, twirling the microphone as he finished his can.

"No, I would prefer Danny. But he has a girlfriend already."

"Who is in Germany for another three weeks." Danny sat on the stage, eating the soup. He didn't understand why Odd hated it. "I could easily take you. Amber knows we're friends and she wouldn't mind anything about it." He silently high-fived himself for not slipping on Ember's cover name, while looking over to see Sissi, the royal pain herself, checking her makeup in the disco ball.

"She really did come on strong." Ulrich muttered. "If meanness is one of the qualities of a beauty queen, she'll get reelected alright."

"That is true, but try to get Miss World to see that." Danny replied, grinning.

Odd laughed into the microphone. "Miss World, huh? Miss In-Her-Own-World is more like it!" They all laughed as Sissi turned on the ladder across the room and glared at Odd.

* * *

"At least you don't care how old I am, do you? We understand each other. We're not like those dumb older kids who always wants to run things, and they think because we're young we don't matter at all."

Milly had hid away from Tamiya in the old tool shed, bringing her stuffed bear with her. He seemed to be the only one that could understand her, regardless of his anatomy. They've been through so much together. She wiped the tears from her face.

"And if we were older, much older than them, they wouldn't laugh at us, would they?"

"Milly! Are you in there? Are you finished sulking? Come on, we have work to do!" Tamiya shouted from outside, trying to peer inside the shed's windows.

"I'm coming!" Milly yelled back, before setting her bear down. "Don't you go anywhere." She touched its nose, before leaving to finish on the duo's Homecoming report.

The lights in the shed began to flicker before they died, casting ghostly shadows throughout the room. One of these shadows began to move, slithering out of the bulb socket and dropping down around the stuffed toy, soaking itself into its cotton insides.

As Milly walked with Tamiya away from the shed, she thought she heard the distinct roar of a grizzly bear.

* * *

"Hey, I hope you two aren't just going to follow me around everywhere, all day long. As far as I know, you're not Elmers, so stop sticking to me like glue!"

Herb and Nicholas shuffled their feet nervously as Sissi opened her door and started to walk inside.

"Sissi –" Herb started before Sissi turned and glared at him. "We were thinking…"

"Take this advice. Don't think." She slammed her door on the two nerds.

Sissi flipped her hair back and sat on her bed, taking off her shoes.

"A bunch of babies at Homecoming. They got to be kidding." She began to undress, removing her pants and shirt. She went over to her stereo, tuning into a station playing a smooth new Subtronics song featuring that new singer Ember McClain. She smirked as she turned back to her closet, opening it up. "And the freak that had the nerve to ask Ulrich! I can't believe the audacity she had. Just imagine if I told her to ask Danny."

Danny, the white-haired, quiet boy, teen sensation with the cute smile. All the girls thought Ulrich was hot, but _Danny_… let's say the day that they found out he had a girlfriend, the whole dormitory should have been restored due to the amount of tears flooding from each girl's room. She was glad she never had completely strayed from her sights on Ulrich.

"If anyone is going to dance with Ulrich, it certainly has to be me." She continued to throw clothes out her closet, trying to find what to wear for the dance. Choosing a white mini dress, she placed it on her bed before turning to her makeup table. She sat down on her stool, examining what she thought as flawless skin as she acted flirtatiously in her mirror.

As she was self-applying the cucumber treatment, a rattle distracted her. "What was that?" The rattling continued, only to get louder. "Who's there, answer me!"

She took off her cucumbers and looked up, seeing everything from her makeup shelves fall on top of her. She screamed as they knocked her down to the floor.

* * *

Students were pressed up against the entrance into the dormitories. The gang minus Danny, who had stayed behind to continue working in the gym to make it up for them, watched silently as the clatter of students rang around them.

The door finally opened, and Principal Delmas and his daughter walked out. Sissi looked perpetually disturbed, trying to hide both inside her bathrobe and in her father's arms.

Delmas sighed. He knew these kids would eat up any excitement, especially this. They were all sharks. "Move along, move along, everything is just fine. Just go back to your dorms."

A flash lit up his vision, and heard the sound of a Polaroid camera. He caught himself from frowning at the two reporters.

"Looks like we caught ourselves a super scoop!" Milly announced proudly, not noticing a dull in noise as the photo was taken out of her and Tamiya's hands. "Hey!"

They both looked up and froze at the sight of Danny, who was looking rather apologetic. "I don't think this needs to be a scoop, guys."

Delmas nodded his head towards Danny, thankful, before taking off with Sissi. The crowd started to disperse as well, some going back to the dorms, some returning to the activities they were participating in. Danny watched them go, before leaning inwards to the reporters. "Now that he's gone," Danny smirked, "why don't you investigate the room? Not many journalists tend to visit the scene of the crime, and I believe your scoop will be even better with pictures of that than this."

"Thanks Danny!" the two girls started to run off, before Danny caught Milly's arm. "I heard what happened earlier today, Milly. I'm sorry about Sissi. But you know that this photo wouldn't replace the hurt you feel." He hugged her, and she gasped in excitement, unfazed by the cool of his body. "Some of us _older kids_ aren't that bad. Now catch back up with Tamiya. She's probably wondering where you ran off to."

Milly let out a small eep of joy, before running after her friend. His friend's approached him now, Odd hiding a laugh.

"Hey Danny, I didn't know eleven year olds were in your range." Danny only glanced at Odd, before motioning Yumi the approval for smacking him in the back of the head. "Ow!" Odd cried, glancing at Yumi before shrinking back.

"I'm more worried about what happened with Sissi. I don't think she could get shock just by having beauty products fall on her."

"You think it's XANA, then?" Jeremie asked.

"We'll never know until we look."

* * *

The crew, after quickly surveying the room, dismissed the idea of a XANA attack when they saw the circuit that was completely stuffed with electronics. They headed back to the gym to finish setting up the dance, but the incident still lingered in both Danny's and Jeremie's minds. Danny knew that when his gut had a feeling, it was usually right. But he didn't want to argue about it.

Jeremie, however, was the one that spoke up. "What happened to Sissi was… kinda weird."

"It was a short circuit, a simple short circuit." Ulrich put the last finishing touches of tape down.

"That's not what Jeremie means. It feels weird. Too weird. A normal short circuit shouldn't have knocked down those shelves." Danny looked down from his ladder, hanging up the curtains behind the stage.

"She could have just hit her head during the shock." Yumi shook her head. "Anyways, keep it cool, alright? Walls have ears." She gestured with her eyes over to a Herb and Nicholas, who seemed to be trying to eavesdrop when they heard Sissi's name. "Anyways, I'm off to get ready. Being a day student can sometimes be a total drag."

"Easy for you to say." Ulrich replied, grinning. "You don't have to wake up at 6AM, don't have to sleep next to smelly Odd, and you don't get questioned if they find you entering or leaving campus after hours. I still don't know how to you do it, Danny."

"It's just one of my many talents. Speaking of which, I'm totally skipping the dance to see that new movie Bridesmaids – knowing Amber, she'll probably use it as her new bible, so I got to at least know some of the gospel." He chuckled. "I didn't want to kill the vibe of the dance or anything anyways, even though majority of them are used to me now. I can actually sit in the lunch room and eat without being stared down now."

"So you're leaving us to deal with an intolerable Sissi tonight?"

"Seems like it." He stepped down from the ladder after fitting the curtain in one last place, and turned and walked over to where Yumi was standing by the door. "We'll catch you guys later."

"See ya!" Both Jeremie and Ulrich shouted as the door opened to let the teens out. Standing outside, Danny turned to Yumi and grinned slyly. "Would you like this squire to escort thy knight's lady home for safety? I know thy sire shall greatly appreciate if thee says so."

Yumi blushed, before lightly punching Danny's arm. "Since when has he become you're master?"

"He isn't. Turns out, your knight always seems to beg his squire for help." He huffed playfully. "Sometimes, I don't understand why I have to be the squire in this relationship."

Yumi laughed. "Come then, soon-to-be Sir Danny." She hooked her arm around his, and together they walked to her home.

* * *

Odd, on the other hand, had skipped going to help the rest of his friends. He was walking back to his dorm room when he saw Milly looking somewhat distraught, Tamiya kneeling beside her.

"I thought she had completely forgotten about this morning, thanks to Danny." He sighed to himself, knowing that going over to see what the problem was would be the right thing to do.

"What's wrong guys?"

Tamiya gazed up at him. "Someone stole her teddy bear."

"And I know Sissi did it too! She probably saw me leave it in the tool shed, and took it just to spite me!" She started to cry. "Sometimes I hate the big kids."

"Milly, you might be right!" Tamiya was looking at one of the photos, with a shocked expression on her face. The picture was of Sissi's messed up bed, and hiding under the pillow was a brown teddy bear.

"I knew it!" Milly cried out, anger overcoming her sadness. "Let's go find her!"

"But Jim caught us searching the shed and banned us from the dance, Milly! If we get caught in the dorms we'll be in big trouble!"

Odd continued to look over the photograph, before taking it. "Don't worry guys, I'll handle it."

He left the two hopeful girls and headed towards the dorms. "Who would of thought Sissi would be playing with dolls." He chuckled to himself. He climbed up the staircase to the third floor, the girls' floor, and headed to Sissi's still open room. But once he walked inside, his amused expression was suppressed into surprise.

Sissi's room was even more torn apart than beforehand. Pillows ripped and torn apart, the posters of her bands cut in half, her desk thrown aside, spilling everything on the ground. The bear was missing too. Odd became suspicious – what happened this afternoon was looking less and less like an accident. Maybe Danny's gut feeling was telling him right when he said to investigate the situation earlier.

He needed to find Jim, most likely he would know who's been coming in and out of the dorms today. However, no matter how high or how low Odd searched for the gym teacher, there was no trace of his red sweat jacket. He had almost given up when he searched the cafeteria, until one of the conversations caught his ear.

"Did you hear about Jim?"

"Yea man, he got attacked. He's in the infirmary talking about it with Delmas."

"But what though? who?"

"Shit, I don't know. But whatever or whoever better not do it again. The dance would be cancelled then."

Odd took a roll, and then used the new information for him. Leaving the cafeteria, he headed back to the dorms where the infirmary was located. Entering the hallway where it was located, he saw Delmas close its door and throw a crumpled paper.

Delmas was surprised when he turned, spying Odd standing there staring at him. "Odd, are you looking for something?"

"Uh… no! You see, I just heard about what happened to Jim, and I wanted to check up on him. Do we know what happened?"

Delmas frowned slightly at the incident that just took place with his supervisor. He shook his head in response to Odd, not paying attention to the slight nervousness in the tone. "No, we don't, but I think what our gym teacher needs now is just a bit of rest."

He brushed past Odd and left the corridor, leaving the boy confused in his principal's retreat. Delmas wasn't as concerned as he should be. Was it because of that paper?

He reached inside the trashcan to grip the ball and pull it out. He unraveled the wrinkles, and a small gasp left his mouth.

* * *

"XANA? In a teddy bear?"

"Yea, I'm pretty sure."

Ulrich looked incredulously at the wrinkled paper that had Jim's rendition of what attacked him. He couldn't lie, even though it was poorly drawn, he could still make out what Jim meant.

"Always there when you least expect it" Jeremie quipped, hand covering the bottom half of his face in thought. The sun was beginning to set behind the trees, marking 6:30 pm. The dance was in an hour.

Excitement began radiating off of Odd's features. "Okay guys, so who goes and who stays here?"

Jeremie removed his hand, glaring at Odd. "We can't do solo missions, it's too dangerous! If you go alone, you'll never know what you will find over there."

"I volunteer, though!" Odd gave a cheesy smile to his peers while raising his hand, but both fell into annoyance as Jeremie stoutly replied "No. What did I just say, huh?"

"Well, have you got any other ideas? There have been two accidents already; we can't leave the school unguarded. And even if we go back in time, it can't fix a death!"

Jeremy looked away, not replying. They found that out the hard way, when a cat was killed by XANA's last attack. Its owner now thought it just simply ran away.

"Odd's right." Ulrich sighed, re-balling the paper and throwing it back to Odd. "He goes, and I'll stay and call you guys if I find more clues." He placed a hand on a shoulder of both friends before smiling. "If you're still worried about it, call Danny! I'm sure he won't be too thoroughly upset. Now go on, and say hey to you-know-who for me."

Jeremie's face tinged in red, as the trio split – Ulrich to lookout, Odd and Jeremie to the factory via the sewers.

* * *

"Aelita?"

"Hey Jeremie!"

"We think XANA has launched an attack, do you hear anything?"

"No. But we can always take a closer look!"

"That's right. I'm sending Odd to meet up with you. Ulrich had to stay behind to keep an eye on things. Speaking of which…" Jeremie dialed Ulrich's number into the computer, calling him. "Hey, did you find anything?"

"_Let's just say it is becoming a bigger problem than expected."_

"Odd is being virtualized now, just stay tight." Jeremie began typing the virtualization codes. "Transfer; Odd. Scanner; Odd… Virtualization."

"_Jeremie, it's worse. The bear got out of the school."_

Aelita stepped in on the conversation. "If the bear is truly under XANA's control, then it will only become worse. It'll go for anybody that's around, _especially_ his mortal enemies… like you."

Jeremie gasped. "What!?"

Ulrich, however, froze and lost focus of his surroundings. "Oh no." came his whisper. "Yumi and Danny."

* * *

"You see that? The tower XANA activated can't be too far away."

Odd peered down the massive hole, containing a spiral road circling around it. He gulped. "Well uh, not down there anyway." He crawled away on all fours slowly.

Aelita gaze drifted away from the depression, searching the horizon. "Maybe it's on one of the other plateaus."

The faint scurry drifted to Odd's ears, and he growled. "Too late for that. We got trouble."

Five Kankrelats, or what Odd had named the cockroach monsters, cut off the area from them. They began to fire lasers, some hitting the cat man as he continuously jumped and weaved, shooting some of his arrows back.

"Odd, you just lost another ten life points!" Jeremie's voice echoed in the sky. Odd shot another arrow before joining Aelita, heading down the spiral.

"I'm afraid we don't have any choice, Odd!" Aelita beckoned him. But Odd was frozen, confined to a vision from the future. It was of Aelita. And she was falling into the void.

* * *

"_I had a dream last night that the plane crashed. You were in it._"

Danny laughed behind his invisibility, watching as the protagonist Annie became half drunk, freaking out about what this random woman on the airplane was proclaiming to her. Sure, he could of just paid to watch it like a normal teen, but much to his defense, as it turned out very much so, not a single man was in here unless he was accompanied by a woman. He did not want to be that guy.

His phone vibrated in his jacket pocket, and saw a text from Ulrich. He rolled his eyes. Ulrich better not be getting cold feet _now_. Wasn't he supposed to pick up Yumi right now or something?

He slipped the device back into his jacket pocket, before the ground itself began to shake. Okay, his phone couldn't vibrate _that_ much.

But before Danny could understand what was going on, a giant hole appeared where the screen used to be. And inside that hole was this massive, brown… teddy bear.

Screams filled the air as the audience ran for the exits. Danny, however, wasn't sure to laugh or run. Most likely laugh, because he was invisible and it probably couldn't see him. But its eyes turned and looked directly at him. In them were the marks of XANA.

"Crap."

Danny dropped his invisibility and ran out of the theater, the bear trailing behind. He cursed himself for wasting his energy in the appearance change, even if it was for his own personal safety. Flying away would have made this so much easier.

He had lost track of time when his phone began ringing this time. He instantly replied. "Not now, Ulrich."

"_But Danny, there's a big giant - "_

"Teddy bear trying to destroy me. Yea. Kind of guessed that when the screen exploded and it appeared there, looking directly at me."

"_Do you have to be sarcastic?"_

"It's the only thing that keeps me wondering what the hell is wrong with my life."

"_You're excused. I already got Yumi, but we need to get back to the dance to evacuate everyone._"

"It's still trailing me. There are people screaming, cars being smashed, yadda yadda. But I'll try to keep it away from there. Handling a giant teddy bear shouldn't be too tough."

"_Be careful Danny, you make it seem like you're invincible. Good Lu – " _A giant paw swiped Danny, knocking him into a tree and crushing his phone.

Pushing himself out of the woodwork, he glared up at the toy. "Hey! Doesn't XANA know it's not nice to break other people's property?"

He could have sworn the bear's face twisted into a malicious smirk, before he raised another arm to deliver a crushing strike. Danny launched himself sideways to avoid the blow, before once again taking off. He wasn't sure where he was going, but something felt familiar about the woods. A metal clang sounded underneath his passing, and he threw a glance over the shoulder to see a covered manhole.

The manhole! Shit, he was on the school grounds! And he soon will be standing right outside the back wall of the gym! Danny halted and flipped around to the bear that also stopped behind him. The silence that ensued the glare-down was almost deathly, until Danny smirked, letting the green power he had been practicing seep out of his hands menacingly.

"So, you want to play rough, huh? Well, it takes two to tango." His legs split apart into a crouched defensive stance. Accepting the challenge, the bear roared, and charged.

* * *

Odd and Aelita continued running down the spiral of the abyss, as the three Kankrelots remaining scurried after them.

"Odd, be careful, you only have 50 life points left!" Jeremie once again sounded.

With a grunt of acknowledgement, Odd jumped and twisted around in air, locking onto the Kankrelots behind him. "Laser Arrows!"

Two of his projectiles met their marks, causing them to explode. The final Kankrelot, becoming unstable by the sudden force of the explosions around him, fell off the side of the pathway. Fate, however, sided with the poor machine, as it fell right into the path of Aelita before continuing along its way down. Thrown off guard, Aelita stumbled before she too fell from her pathway.

"Aelita!" Odd dove off of the path, bounding down each set of spirals before grabbing Aelita with one hand, and using the claws on his other to dig into the side of the orange earth. When the descent finally stopped, Odd sighed in relief, before smiling down to his catch. "We can't just leave you alone, can we?"

Aelita giggled a little, before looking at the crevice before her. "Odd, I think I found something. Swing me inside."

In a moment, both beings were inside the tunnels, with digital roots travelling throughout it. "You sure the tower is this way?"

"Almost positive, it can't be too far from here."

"Guys, hurry up! Teddy's getting angry, and Danny's phone became disconnected."

Odd was about to respond back to Jeremie, when both a rumble disturbed his comment. Both him and Aelita looked back, to see a giant metal ball rolling towards them. "Run!"

* * *

Yumi hung up her phone and looked at Ulrich. "Odd still hasn't found the activated tower."

Panting, he looked around the campus in front of him, before turning his vision to meet Yumi's. "Then you go clear the dorms, and I'll handle the dance. Okay?"

With a nod, they set off to their specified destinations. Ulrich reached the gym before turning to see Yumi enter the dorms. He sighed, before pushing open the door.

He wasn't expecting this. Music reverberated off the walls dancing in color, the room packed with almost every student from Kadic. Yumi's job would be exponentially easier – unfortunately her lack of need was put on his own.

He shuffled through the crowd, trying to get to the front to grab a microphone. Suddenly, a dark wall stepped into his path, which he unconsciously walked straight into. "Ow!"

"Ulrich! Come on, couldn't you have at least given a little effort?" Jim scolded at the teen, who hadn't had time to dress up somewhat. However, even though the teacher himself might have had a blazer and slacks on, his white dress shirt underneath was halfway buttoned, and his white hairband still rested in his hair. How hypocritical. "I can't believe you look so sloppy."

Jim placed a hand on his shoulder, oblivious to Ulrich's nervous demeanor. "I'll let you slide this time. Chill out and have fun!"

Ulrich nodded and walked past the teacher, looking over his shoulder at Jim's retreating figure into he bumped into someone else.

"Ulrich! Hey, where did your date go?" Sissi sugarcoated her obvious arrogance. She flipped her hair, eyes twinkling in want. "Next time, " she leaned in closer to Ulrich. "Just call me."

Ulrich felt the presence of Sissi's shadows press around him, glaring at his head. Rolling his eyes, he began to side step around her.

Delmas's voice rang out from the sound system. "Okay students, it's that time of the night to announce the Homecoming Beauty Queen!"

"That's my cue!" Sissi winked, rolling on her heels as she turned towards the stage. Ulrich pushed away from Herb and Nicholas, off to find another microphone.

* * *

Together, they jumped aside as the huge metal ball smashed into the red glowing tower. The ball shifted towards Odd, opening up to reveal the soft, red insides that held its elliptical laser.

"Odd, watch it! You only got 50 life points left!"

"Don't sweat, Jeremie. I just wanted to say hi to an old friend." The gaze hardened on the Megatank, whose ring started to gather energy. A solid wall of red shot out, and Odd jumped away to avoid it.

The tank didn't waste any time before firing another shot, making Odd jump again. Aelita watched the fight in horror.

"Jeremie! Odd's not going to make it!"

"Yes he will! Just get going to the tower!"

Agreeing, she maneuvered around the tank's sight and began sprinting.

* * *

"And now, once again, it's time to announce your pick for the most beautiful, most stunning, better than any other girl, your Homecoming Queen!"

Ulrich snaked his way to the audio equipment and found a second microphone. He turned around and opened his mouth to speak, until out of the corner of his eye saw a body come from the wall and fall on Sissi. The room became automatically quiet, stunned as the hooded figure groaned and pushed himself off the beauty queen.

"I can't believe it just did that…" A voice muttered, before the stranger finally realized where he was. He looked around the room, electric blue eyes scanning the room in fear. But the only noise that was heard was the mic drop from Ulrich's hand.

Danny, unbeknownst to all, peered from underneath to the students of Kadic Academy. Of course _his luck_ would make him crash the dance. He tentatively raised a hand and waved it. "Uh… hi?"

The wall behind him began to crumble down, and the screams of the students finally filled the air. As the bodies filed out of the gym, Danny turned and faced the now crouching teddy bear, focused on him. Burn marks from the battle earlier scorched its brown fur; eyes seemingly narrowed, definitely peeved. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Ulrich hadn't left yet.

The bear noticed this too, and quickly pawed Danny away as it crawled to Ulrich. A green blast hit the side of the bear's face, roaring as it turned to where it came from. Ectoplasmic power still encased Danny's hand, eyes slightly hinting at their normal brilliant green. "Why don't you pick on someone not defenseless?"

Danny ran and jumped, punching the bear in the face, making it stumble a few steps back before falling over. He instinctively crouched defensively in front of Ulrich, and eyed him over his shoulder as he silently thanked God that he had covered the lower half of his face with a plain black bandana. Speaking in a different tone, Danny confronted the teen. "I'm guessing you two know each other?"

"How would you know?" Ulrich stammered. Who was this guy? This couldn't XANA related, but there was no way… there was… he had _powers_? He couldn't have powers, there was no… Ulrich's head swimmed.

"Well, student-whose-name-I-don't-know," Danny continued, choosing his words carefully. "It seemed to be following someone here. And you didn't run screaming."

"He must of followed Danny! My God, where is he!?" Ulrich exclaimed. Danny inwardly flinched, torn between lying to Ulrich, letting him believe the worst while the teen in question stood in front of him.

Danny fully turned around to face his friend. "I didn't see anybody named Danny, but – " A giant paw slammed down on the mysteriously powered dude. Ulrich mouth dropped, staring up at the bear as the arm removed itself from the ground; the guy laying in his indention on the floor, apparently knocked out.

Ulrich, knees shaking, cowered in his spot as the toy's arm raised again, ready to be taken down as well.

* * *

Another blast sent Odd flying, this time strategy in his mind. He directed the path over the huge tank, shooting at the target on its elliptical laser. The impact sent the spherical tank winding back, until exploding against the wall.

With the threat gone, Aelita safely entered the tower, and rose to the command floor to end XANA's control over it.

* * *

"Ulrich!" Yumi ran through the gym to where her best friend shook, eyes closed. The bear above him was frozen in mid swing. She knelt down beside him and hugged him, waking the boy from his stupor. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… But you're not going to believe it! There's this guy – " He pointed over to where the mysterious person laid, who seemed to be stirring. Ulrich and Yumi shuffled over to help him.

Those cerulean blue eyes opened, staring directly up at his two friends. They pulled him up into a sitting position, but didn't take their hands off him.

"Thanks," painfully groaned Danny, stretching his arms up into the air and leaned back, popping his stiff spine.

"You're only a teen…" whispered Ulrich, still staring into the half covered face, line-less, glowing in youth. "And you look familiar…"

"I doubt that." Quickly snapped Danny, phasing out of the boy and girl's hands, ignoring the collective gasp. He stood and started walking to the newly formed exit in the wall, before turning around and smirking underneath his disguise. "It's not like you've ever met a _ghost _before…"

As he faded from their sight, Yumi gathered herself and turned to her friend, voice quavering. "I'm glad you're okay, but was that really a…"

Ulrich only stared at where the powered teen used to stand, as the refreshing feeling of a Return to the Past washed over them.

* * *

"But it's for the school news program!" Milly exclaimed as Sissi and her gang denied the interview and confiscated Tamiya's recorder. "What about freedom of the press!?"

"Oh Milly, little dipsticks your age don't have any freedom." Sissi retorted. "Who needs your dumb recording, what do you know? Besides," Sissi began to smile smugly at the seventh grader. "You have a problem. You need a date and I don't know anyone that would go with a derp like you."

"Good thing you don't know me, then." Danny replied, strolling in from behind Sissi. She stared at him in shock when he knelt down in front of the ruby haired girl.

"Hey Milly, I was wondering… Do you want to go to the dance?" A stupid grin covered his face as he watched the girl in front of him stutter, then start screaming and jumping up and down with her friend in excitement. Swiveling on his feet, he glanced at Sissi, chuckling at her dumbstruck expression.

"You… you… You have a girlfriend though!" Sissi almost screamed, furious that a twerp like Milly was going to the dance with Danny.

"Yea," he shrugged. "But, you know, she's in Germany and stuff right now. We talked last night and since this was my first year, I shouldn't miss it." He began to smirk. "All the girls seemed to already have dates, including you, and when I heard you say Milly didn't have one I thought, why not?"

"I don't have a date though! You could have asked me!"

"Oops." Popped Danny's lips, before leaving a furiously shocked Sissi and her unfortunate posse to help his friends set up the dance, this time when he was supposed to. They were all standing in the doorway watching what had happened.

"You know Sissi, maybe you would have a date if your brain had another neuron!" Odd chimed, laughing as he ducked a flying shoe. Sissi stormed out of the gym, being hopelessly trailed by Herb and Nicholas.

"You sure it's okay, Danny?" Yumi asked, still skeptical.

"I wasn't lying about talking last night. I threw in one or two things about the dance and this girl being picked on for not having a date, and she almost literally came through the phone to drag me by the ear to Milly's door at that instant. She _hates_ bullies." He wasn't lying. When Ember was young, she was continuously picked on and tormented, everyone calling her names except her own. It was a start for her – she, like all full ghosts, hated to talk about their existence while living, especially their death.

"Well, at least Milly's happy now." Ulrich replied half-heartedly, before turning back into the gym to start working again.

Danny frowned, and followed after him. "What's wrong, Ulrich?"

Ulrich continued to work, before stopping and turned to face him. "What happened to you last night? Your phone was cut off and then you never answered again."

"It was smashed." Danny replied simply, but he could feel the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. It was oblivious to the group, however. "It knocked me into a tree, might have broken a rib because my body hurt bad. It was then I realized I was in our park, not that far from the manhole. I crawled my way over and slid inside before it could spot me again."

"Did you see anybody? Like in a dark, navy blue jacket?"

"No." _Lies._

Ulrich continue to look at Danny, before accepting the information and turning to the group as a whole. "I was saved last night by somebody, a teen from what I could tell, that had superpowers."

Odd laughed. "Yea right, and pigs actually have wings."

"He's serious, though I didn't see everything like Ulrich did." Yumi shot back. "But the kid was special, no doubt. Our hands literally went _through _him like he wasn't actually there. And then he just… disappeared." She shook her head in wonder. "He asked us if we believed in ghosts and… I think he is one."

Danny couldn't take it anymore. "There are no such things as ghosts, guys." He got up, disregarding the task at hand, and began to walk away.

Yumi grabbed his arm in the nick of time. "Wait, Danny – "

"_There is no such thing!_" He hissed, pulling away from her grasp, before running out the doors, leaving behind a very confused group of teenagers.

* * *

**I (hopefully) won't leave you guys hanging for almost three weeks for the next chapter. Please don't sue.**

**& do I sense a CLIFFHANGER haha oops.**

**guess you'll just have to wait~**


	6. The Super Nuclear Band

**was my timing better this time?**

**jeanette9a: you sound like my mom *rolls eyes at my sad excuse of a retort***

**princessbinas: *whispers* it is not yet time for such reveal HOWEVER I must admit I almost revealed his cover's secret _since he looks so much like Danny Fenton oops?_ but i deleted it and changed to something more... general...**

**Sparxthehdgehog: who said anything about Fantôme having a rockstar girlfriend?**

**nightmaster000: this might be true except you forget the fact that Danny is like fourteen and Ember has the mentality of a seventeen year old. I might be writing Danny as older than he is, but then again, when teenagers are in relationships, it moves pretty fast. I knew two people that dated for _seven hours_ and then they broke up. Personally, I think it's moving perfectly, since now their relationship has elapsed about six weeks. But that's just me.**

**TheVirus: forever wondering the same question but soon my dear, soon.**

**Stonefaced610: awh & I love YOU random reader :D**

**Shi-shiNata: _no I really wanted to write 96 episodes that incorporated Danny._ Trust me, I'm trying. I highly doubt I am able to prolong events I want to happen with writing around 8000 words per chapter in a mass of like 23 episodes a season. _That's like I don't know 160,000 words x4 equals 640,000 word story nope not doing it_. Unfortunately, I myself am not able to discern between which to write and which not to write. I guess I'm stuck with this gift/curse?**

* * *

"I wasn't aware that was how I felt, either, until it was out.  
And now that I've said it like that, I'm not exactly sure it is how I feel.  
But this isn't a piece of paper I can crumple up and throw away.  
They aren't words I can cross out to start over.  
Now they're out, and I know they'll hang here, between us, maybe forever."  
-Terra Elan McVoy

_Chapter IV - The Super Nuclear Band_

* * *

Running fingers through his mangled hair, Danny hopelessly stared down at the math assignment in front of him.

Jen is five years older than Dave, who is three-fourths the age of Jill. Ben is in his twenties, and is four years older than Jill. Jen is only a year older than Jill. How old is Jen?

He was never that great when it came to word problems like these, being much more literate when it came to given values. Maybe that's why science was one of his highest classes; he was always interested in it, especially astronomy...

He shoved the math away, dropping his head on the desk and moaned. No, he couldn't ever pursue astronomy like he used to. He couldn't do anything like he used to. He was now an abnormity. A thing of myth.

Just like Lyoko.

He always assumed that if he was to tell his friends the truth they would accept it like Lyoko, like Aelita. However, Aelita was still human, only trapped inside a computer with XANA. She could have a normal life when she left. She wasn't like him.

He had seen the look in their eyes. The look of disbelief. The look of terror. They were scared when they figured out just what their savior was, not wanting to believe it. But it was hard to deny what they saw.

He knew that denying ghosts last week to them would come back to haunt him. It managed to slip into every conversation the friends had, to which he would stop talking and leave, not wanting to speak about it. He even began to grow distant from them, avoiding the usual hangouts. He knew they were bothered by his actions, but frankly right now, he didn't care.

It was best for them to just forget about it.

It was best for him to just forget about the past as well. He couldn't desire it, it couldn't return to him. But their looks reminded him of that fateful night. He wasn't Danny Fenton anymore. Danny Fenton was dead.

His parents made sure that no one went looking for clues after their son went 'missing'. They filed a Missing Person's report, unsurprisingly never being able to find him for the month that followed. He remembered that his plane had just left the airport when the APB went out.

A Google search was what told him. A news article from Champagne, as a fourteen year old boy going missing from small town like Amity Park always gathered some sort of large attention, sadly ran the news of his closed-casket funeral. The audience captured in the photo was surprisingly large.

Up front were Maddie and Jack, both wallowing in tears. The fakers.

He couldn't deny that he always wondered before going to sleep why his parents never accepted what happened. He could point it to their pride, their research. Did they really believe he was actually dead, with only anger and malicious intent left inside him? Could they ever accept that he is still living?

Jazz, on the other hand, wasn't sitting anywhere near her parents. There were no tears. There was no wretched, disheartened expression. It was void - her eyes staring through the wood box, paying attention to nothing. Her eyes, in pain.

Her eyes, the only thing that told Danny everything. Jazz was suffering all right. But it wasn't because her brother was dead. It was because her parents made him dead. Behind her was the black ponytail and the red beret of what once was his friends, but he didn't even flick his gaze down to see their emotions. He knew he would be haunted forever if he did.

Memories had rushed back in, memories that he had tried to avoid. Depression struck harder than the bear did. He no longer spoke, no longer made eye contact with anyone. He didn't bother to go to the cafeteria for food. He even began to skip classes, going invisible every time Jim tried to catch him in his room.

The white haired teen would just… disappear.

Which is exactly what Danny did when he heard the door handle jiggle, thinking it was Jim again. However, a voice called out from outside.

"Danny, its Ulrich! Let me in!"

With a sigh, Danny got up and opened the door, allowing Ulrich to walk in. Ulrich mouth formed an O when he saw his friends room – the midnight black paint was there again, but it wasn't all that Danny changed. His bed now was raised on a loft – underneath was his work desk, a keyboard, and a CPU – the latter two hooked up to the 26 inch flat screen that could swivel towards the desk or the couch that lined the back left corner of the room. In the right corner was a lamp, adjoined by the cabinets and dresser. Twinkles from above led Ulrich gaze at a realistic starry night.

"Did you paint that?"

Danny gave a small, sad smile as he sat back down under the loft, continuing his struggle with the math homework. "Yea."

"You know, that's probably your calling. It's better than some of Odd's parents' work."

"I wouldn't want to upstage them." Danny replied quietly, pencil unmoving over the paper. Ulrich came from behind, and placed a hand on his friends shoulder, worried.

"You missed science again."

"I know."

Silence filled the room, before Ulrich gave out an exasperated snort, turned, and took a place on the couch. He stared at Danny for some time. "Danny, you're being ridiculous."

"No, I'm not."

"_Yes_, you are. Ever since that XANA attack you've been avoiding us, your attitude has changed, and you're locked up in here, sometimes leaving to go to a class you happen to decide not to skip."

Silence was the only answer, and Ulrich sighed again, rolling his eyes. "Listen, Danny. I don't really know what you're thinking about. You completely deny without a second thought ghosts do exist, yet when I did the same thing about Lyoko, you kept pushing me into believing. So I'm going to keep pushing you."

Danny finally looked up from the assignment, staring at Ulrich, before the lips on his face turned a little. "I never said I didn't believe in them. I just choose not to see them."

"And why not?"

"My parents." Danny whispered, looking down at the floor. "They were obsessed with the supernatural. One day they simply just… left. Never to be heard of again." A small chuckle left his lips, a single tear falling from his cheek. "Wouldn't it be ironic if they became what they were so interested in?"

Ulrich looked down as well, feeling ashamed. "You miss them, don't you?"

"I miss a lot of things." Danny replied simply, sadly. "I tend to overlook them, but sometimes… they just come back strong."

Another silence was shared between the two, before Danny spoke up this time. "Thanks for coming, Ulrich. They say talking always helps get over it. And you know, with Amber gone, and not hearing from my guardian in a while…"

Ulrich gave Danny a quick hug. "Just stop talking, bleach-head." He looked over Danny, smiling. "I'll tell them you haven't been feeling well, being homesick and all. They'll understand."

"Thanks, Ulrich." Danny yawned in return, before gesturing him to leave, feeling much better than beforehand. "Now get to class. I'm trying to finish this blasted assignment before my educational death."

With a flick of the eyes, Ulrich scanned the math homework behind Danny. "That's extra credit, Danny. And the answer's 20. You would have found that out if you were in math yesterday."

Ulrich ran out of the room laughing, as the newly formed ball of paper raced past his head with an exasperated yet lighthearted Danny yelling after him.

* * *

"Our heating plant uses energy supplied by a nuclear reactor, from which we produce thousands of watts of nuclear power." The pointer clicked on the projection formed on the wall. "Here we got the cooling tower, the turbine, the generator, and then the reactor. This plant is one of the most powerful in the world. As chief engineer, I am particularly concerned about safety of our workers. To ensure this safety, we have multiple levels of security that all work as one. This safety, we like to call in-depth defense." The speakers stopped, glancing at the students that weren't paying much attention anymore. Rolling his eyes, he ended his presentation earlier than expected. "Any questions?"

"Just one." Jeremie stood up, notes in hand. "I would like to know if an atomic process exists for fusing virtual particles, and materializing them into the real world."

Odd, sitting next to the genius, smirked up at him, while both Ulrich and Danny sitting behind the two blondes slightly frowned at the borderline giveaway.

The scientist narrowed his eyes at the boy, before clicking his heels across the floor. Pushing up his glasses, the scientist replied acidly. "Son, that is in the realm of science fiction."

Sensing tension, the science teacher, Mrs. Hertz, stepped in between the two glares. She glanced at Jeremie apologetically, before turning to the speaker. "Jeremie is an excellent student, but he is bit of a dreamer."

Chuckles filled the classroom, but the one outright laughing was Herb. Danny turned in his seat. "At least Jeremie actually paid attention to the man instead of guessing Sissi's exact shade of lipstick."

The classroom began to laugh again, Odd falling out of his seat crying. Even Sissi gave a small chuckle. Herb shot daggers from his eyes at Danny, but Danny's disarming glare quickly made Herb flinch and shrink in his seat.

The projector suddenly short circuited, causing the image to flicker out. Mrs. Hertz ran over to the machine. "Well now, what's happened here?" She twisted the lenses and repeatedly clicked the power button, but to no avail did the projector turn back on. "Certainly nothing serious, I hope. Just a blown fuse. It is a new projector after all." She shot a glare at the gray light box.

Jeremie threw a glance over his shoulder to his friends.

* * *

"And _I'm_ saying XANA is behind this!"

"Don't get so excited, Jeremie. I mean it was just a short circuit."

"Odd, we're talking about a program that can control just about anything. Jeremie's got a right to worry a little."

"Don't tell me you think its XANA too, Dan."

"I'm not. But you can't blame him for being cautious."

The four boys met up with Yumi outside the science lab. A quick glance to Danny told her everything she needed to know, before giving a nonverbal agreement.

"Odd!" Delmas approached the five teens, clearly regretting what he was about to announce. His face twitched through mock happiness. "I thought it over, and you can form your group – the Fox Trot Fanatics?"

"Actually, sir" Yumi glanced up at the principal. "It's called the Pop Rock Progressives."

"Whatever." Delmas slipped, before his face reddened in embarrassment. He had to find some way to still show his authority after that. "_But _it must be open to whoever wishes to play, am I clear?"

"No problemo, sir!" Odd saluted, while Danny whispered "Whatever" in a voice mimicking Delmas, causing Yumi, Ulrich, and Jeremie to snicker. With a "humph," Delmas strode away from the group.

Once out of earshot, Odd ripped out a "YEA!" while his friends clapped in the wake of his success dance. "Let's hear it for the God of Rock and Roll!"

"Hey Ozzy Osborne, you need to get these flyers copied and printed pronto if we want to do auditions today. It's thirty minutes before lunch."

"You're right! Come on, Jeremie, let's get going!"

The blonde boy threw up his hands. "I'm not into rock, sorry. Besides, I'm going to check on that outage."

As he walked away, Odd turned to the remaining trio. "Come on, someone go with me!"

Danny shook his head, grinning. "There's someone I need to call as well. See you guys at lunch." He winked as he too strolled away from a dissipating Odd.

"Isn't there anyone that wants to help me?"

Both Ulrich and Yumi smiled at their friend, before Yumi ruffled the gelled up hair. "Come on, Steven Tyler."

* * *

The dial tone lasted for around five seconds before the speaker nearly exploded in Danny's hand with screaming.

"_Not the best time, baby pop! I'm about to go out again!" _Ember's voice barely sounded over the crowd.

"Well, when was I supposed to tell you that I'm in a band?"

"_What!?_" Her voice was definitely louder. He didn't know whether it was from surprise, happiness, or anger.

"Yea, it's kind of like a school band though… it's nothing big like you."

"_Who cares! What are you doing?_"

"I'm not sure, but I'll find something…"

The phone crowded with noise, unable to tell whether Ember was still there or not. "_Okay then, it's decided. Regardless if you're the backup to the backup guitarist, I'm coming to see it_."

"You're on tour though!"

"_I'm a _ghost_, idiot. Germany and France aren't that far away from each other_. _I'll just fly over real quick_."

"Love you, too. But do you really need…"

"_I am coming."_

"No, you're – "

Ember started screaming into the microphone some halfhearted insults, daring him to tell her no again. He held up his arms in defeat, even though Ember was unable to see it. "Okay! Okay! They won't be expecting you, though."

"_So what? You act like I don't know how to be seen in public looking somewhat normal_."

"Because I've never seen you in public."

"_Oh, you will_." And with a click, the line died. Ember had ended the call.

Groaning, Danny flopped all the way back down on his bed, removing himself and his dangling feet from the side. What had he just gotten himself into?

* * *

"Aelita, do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Jeremie! But didn't you hear me before?"

"No. We've been having some electrical problems here at the school."

Aelita's face popped up on his screen. "Hm. Do you think it's XANA?"

"I don't know, have you heard anything there?"

"No." The girl shook her head. She hadn't felt any pulsations all morning.

"Okay then, I am going to run a scan just to be safe." Typing the code into the computer, the program began listing and searching through every tower on Lyoko, one by one. "If he has activated one, we'll find out soon."

Getting up from his chair, Jeremie began to leave the room. Aelita stared at him, confused. "Where are you going?"

"To the cafeteria. They have Brussels sprouts today." Jeremie smirked. Lunch was definitely going to be interesting. "Have you ever had them?"

"No, but I've read about them. What do they taste like?"

* * *

"Yuck!" Ulrich stuck his tongue out in disgust, pushing his tray away. "Gross."

Yumi was on the opposite side of the table, raising an eyebrow at him. "Come on, Ulrich. They're not _that _bad."

"That's because you're been eating them since you were six. Nine years to let your taste buds ignore them."

"And even in that amount of time, I know I will never come to enjoy them." Danny sat next to Ulrich, eating a Clif Bar. "Thank God I bought a box of these at the store after the movie last week."

"And so Mr. Cold Shoulder decides to make a second appearance with friends today." Yumi grinned, but worry apparent in her eyes. "What happened?"

"I remembered." Danny replied simply, taking another bite out of the energy bar. "Homesickness does things to people."

"Well, I'm glad you seem better." Yumi replied, before Ulrich cut in. "Can I have some of that?"

Danny shrugged, and broke apart the small, definitely filling meal, giving half of it to Ulrich. He took a bite, before grimacing and swallowed it. "This is almost as bad as the Brussels sprouts."

"You still swallowed it."

"Because it's _almost_ as bad. Meaning that this is definitely way better than those things."

Danny, Yumi, Ulrich, and Jeremie laughed, until they heard Jim begin yelling at someone with a stack of papers under his arm. Odd.

"What's the meaning of this, Della Robia? What are you up to now?"

"We're holding auditions for our new group, Jim!" He held up a yellow flyer for Jim to see. Jim took a hold of it, still reading intently as Odd slowly backed away, then continued passing them out in the opposite direction. Danny snickered.

"Looks like Jim is interested."

"There's no way he would come."

"I don't know, Ulrich, Jim is reading it pretty intently."

"That doesn't mean anything!"

Danny stopped Ulrich and Yumi from continuing. "There is only one way to solve this." He pulled a ten dollar bill out of his pocket. "Ten dollars that Jim joins. That means if Ulrich is right, he gets twenty. And if Yumi and I are right, we get five each. Bet?"

"Bet." They agreed unanimously, grinning at the chance for easy cash. Danny sighed in relief, leaning back in his chair to watch Odd continue making his rounds. But the easy-going smile turned into a frown.

"Hey, if anyone wants to join, we still need a drummer!" Odd proclaimed, placing fly-outs on the end of each table. He was reaching for another set before looking up to see where exactly he was and stopped himself.

In front of him with Sissi and Co.'s table. Nicholas had his hand stretched outwards, ready to take a flyer. A silence ensued between Odd and the group before him, before pulling his own armed hand back and smirked, strolling back the way he came.

Danny let out an irritated growl and stood, meeting Odd halfway before snatching a flyer. "Hey!" Odd exclaimed, surprised. The cafeteria became quiet as the students watched Danny walk up to his enemies, and with a smile, gave them a flyer. "Hope to see you there."

Dumbstruck expressions were everywhere as Danny once again sauntered past Odd, and left the cafeteria, clearly unfazed.

* * *

"I can't believe he did that!" Odd raged as he stood before the vending machine, trying to choose something to eat. "He has no right!"

"Technically, you didn't have the right either, Odd." Ulrich sighed. "Delmas said it was open to _everyone_." He pushed one of the buttons on the vending machine, and Odd protested. "The soup isn't that awful either, Odd."

"You might as well room with him if you're going to take his side." The disgruntled teen muttered. As the cup was dispensed, only a small dribble of the soup came out. "Hey, what gives?"

"Maybe it's another power outage." Jeremie wondered out loud, still unsure of the electrical events that were happening that day.

"Are you worried?"

Jeremie turned to face Yumi. "Yeah, I am. Everything seems to be slipping today. I'll keep checking things out on Lyoko."

"Well, if you need us, we'll be in the gym holding auditions!"

The group parted ways – Jeremie to his room, the other three to the gym. Odd continued complaining, much to Ulrich and Yumi's annoyance. "You know, as if this day couldn't get worse. I didn't have any lunch, there's an albino Grinch that had his heart grow three sizes too soon, and now I have to listen to Nicholas audition."

"You know Odd, it isn't _your _band." Yumi pointedly replied. "and Danny is Danny – he's neutral when it comes to this kind of stuff." Odd showed no attention to her answer, and Yumi hummed in exasperation.

They turned the corner around the dorm building, only to be greeted by a line of students winding out the door of the wood floored gym that doubled as an auditorium.

"You did say auditions were at two, right?"

"That's what the flyer said." Odd let out an irritated sigh, looking at his watch. "It's 1:40."

Pushing past the crowd, they entered the building, finding Danny dozing off in a row of four seats in the middle of the gym, drum equipment and speakers already set up.

"Great, he's already here." Odd muttered, once again getting disapproving looks from Ulrich and Yumi. Danny shifted in his chair, until a pair of green eyes rested on Odd.

"Yea I'm already here, we can't set up right when auditions begin. That's completely unprofessional."

"And how would you know that?" Odd shot back. Danny only stood and stretched upwards, pulling his body limber.

"You're not the only person I know that has a band. Now if you are so kind, King Odd – " Danny over exaggeratedly gestured to the row before him, basking in Odd's obviously peeved emotions. "Let's get this show on the road."

* * *

Two hours of auditions had gone by, each getting somewhat progressively worse. Odd had a disgruntled face, trying to hide the obvious torment of sound. Ulrich, tired of the noise, was resting his head on the palm of his hand, staring into nothing.

Both Danny and Yumi held somewhat neutral faces, but Danny would sometimes flinch at a conundrum of sounds that would ring in his overactive ears. He sat cross legged on the floor, finding it more comfortable than his chair. Yumi had a leg up to her chest, pulling it in.

As one of the auditionee's finished performing, Ulrich let out a sigh of relief. Odd was the first to comment.

"Yea, you got a lot of style and all… it's heavy metal, right?"

"Oh! Yea, haha, it's my favorite!" The drummer clashed another symbol loudly, making Danny flinch. Maybe being a part of the band wasn't a great idea after all. He couldn't understand how Ember dealt with the noise.

"Sorry Mike, but we're really looking for something more… traditional, you know."

"It doesn't mean it wasn't good!" Danny quickly added, before catching the short glare Odd threw his way.

"Oh well." Mike shrug, smiling. He set the drumsticks down and strolled off stage.

"Next!" As footsteps echoed across the wood floor, the group turned around.

Right off the bat, Danny noticed Odd's attitude change from bored irritation to complete interest. Strolling across the gym was Naomi, an almond brown haired girl with a red hibiscus tucked in it. Danny inwardly groaned, already realizing what is about to happen.

"Hey guys!" The girl squeaked as she took her place behind the drums, flipping her hair out of eyes that twinkled seductively down at the boys. Everyone except Odd snorted.

"Hey Naomi!" Odd grinned ear to ear, leaning forward. "I didn't know you can play the drums!"

"Well yeah!" Naomi winked at him, causing a red tint to color his cheeks. "I've always dreamed of being in a band."

"Okay then," Ulrich started smirking, flattering the situation. "Go on."

The audition was fairly short. Ulrich's face and smirk fell into an awkward frown, while Yumi covered her mouth with a small laugh. Danny placed his head in his hands, groaning. Odd, however, was totally entranced. Naomi finished her set, and Odd immediately stood, clapping. "That was great Naomi!" Danny groaned again, before getting up and walking across the room to a cooler.

As Naomi left after the praise, Odd turned excitedly to his friends. "Well, what did you guys think! I mean we're not going to find anyone better."

Both Yumi and Ulrich frowned again, and Danny returned back and threw a water bottle to Odd. The receiving end looked at it confused. "What is this, Danny?"

"Water." He replied simply, sitting back down on the ground, motioning the next person to come in. He took a sip out of his own bottle before continuing. "I myself was getting a little parched from listening to your thirst."

Ulrich and Yumi let out a loud laugh as Odd sat back down, cheeks flushed and indignant.

* * *

Jeremie continued typing into his computer, until he pulled up the electrical chart for Sceaux. Majority of the city's power was being centralized in one small area on the corner of the map. Clicking on it, Jeremie let out a small gasp.

"400,000 Volts at a high-tension pylon?" Jeremie once again brought forth his thinking face, placing a hand under his chin. "That's not right."

Pulling up the electrical capacity of the pylon, Jeremie typed more code into the computer until he made contact with Aelita again. "Aelita?"

"Anything new, Jeremie?"

"Well, I'm not sure, there's –" All of the sudden the monitors fizzled and then blinked out of existence. "What the? Aelita!?"

Jeremie jumped up from his chair, checking all the electrical appliances in his room. None of them would start as well. Quickly leaving his room, the boy ran down stairs, heading to the campus's entrance where the pylon was located. Upon noticing it, he could see it spark and crackle in bright blue electricity, clearly overloaded on power.

"Uh oh. This isn't good."

* * *

The early rush of auditions had finally dwindled down to one or two every ten minutes, leaving the group exposed to the awkward, high tensioned silences. Odd hadn't bothered to even open the water bottle Danny had given him, so that it wouldn't seem like he was giving into the white-haired teen's side. Danny himself was sprawled across the floor, reading the news on his phone, trying to ignore the immaturity of his friend. Yumi and Ulrich sat between them, throwing each other uncomfortable glances and shifting in their seats.

Jeremie burst into the room, panting. "Guys, I knew it! This is totally XANA's doing!"

He dragged a chair across the room and sat down in front of his friends, half looking at him skeptically, while the other half were concerned. Yumi was the only one to reply. "Well, go on!"

Jeremie wiped his brow, still breathless from his trek. "You know how the electricity has been cutting out around the school, right? I saw while on my computer that there was a pylon outside the school bustling with thousands of volts more than what it should have. No normal glitch in an electrical grid would have a 5,000 volt pylon filled with 400,000 volts and counting!"

"But why would XANA want to do that?"

"Who knows." Danny got off the floor, brushing himself off. "But it needs to be taken care of before – "

"Surprise!" Sissi burst through the swinging door with a purposeful stride, while Herb and Nicholas trailed behind her. Odd shot another rude look to Danny, who shrugged it off with a roll of his eyes.

Sissi took the seat that Danny had been sitting in earlier, resting her head along the wall her arms made on the back of the chair. "I know my friend's aren't very _welcome_." A couple shots at Odd were directed from her group, before Sissi's eyes turned to Danny. "But at least some people can look past differences."

Danny scoffed. "I can, but that's not the reason I gave the flyer to you guys. Your father made sure that everyone felt invited. And knowing you, if you weren't allowed to participate, well… " He gestured a hand around the room. "None of us would be standing here right now."

Sissi smirked. "That's an excellent point, Danny. But don't you fret; I'm not the one wanting to join a band full of deadbeat weirdos." She pulled Nicholas forward. "Nicholas, on the other hand, loves the drums."

Odd laughed. "A drummer, huh? What does he play, his mom's pots and pans?" The laugh turned into a scowl when Danny shot him a silent death glare.

Looking back to Sissi, Danny held a silent frown, processing his thoughts. With a sigh, he turned to Nicholas, a small smile on his face. "Well then, let's hear it."

As Nicholas got prepared for the audition, Jeremie placed a hand on both Ulrich and Yumi's shoulders. "They have been this way all auditions?"

"Yep." The answer was instantaneous. Jeremie gave a quick grin before squeezing the arms of his friends. "Don't worry about it guys, Danny's only fuming that Odd still hasn't realized his reasoning."

"The problem is that Odd won't." Ulrich sighed, still irritated.

"He will eventually, Ulrich. But I have to get to the factory if we need to get a step-up on XANA and plan what he's doing with that power. See you guys there?"

"You bet Jeremie, we'll close auditions early after this one."

As Jeremie left, Odd threw eye daggers across the seats at Danny, while the receiving end ignored the childish antics as Nicholas began to play.

An air of awe passed over the judges. Odd began gaping at Nicholas's talent, the best they've heard all day. Yumi had her eyebrows up in surprise, and Ulrich leaned in closer to the stage in amazement. Danny was first to break the shock, and with a grin he leaned back in the chair Jeremie had brought over, closing his eyes as his ears rejoiced in the musical symphony of snares and hi-hats. Sissi kept her eyes on the two candies on the other side of Yumi, smiling a little.

It was Danny's turn as well to stand up and clap as Nicholas finished the set, with Sissi and Herb clapping in the background. Yumi and Ulrich also began to clap as well in midst of the applause, while Odd slumped in his seat, pouting.

With a chuckle, Sissi stood from her seat, smiling pointedly at Odd. "Looks like you found yourself a new drummer."

"Nicholas!? In _my _band? He could be the best drummer in the world and I still wouldn't take him!" Odd glared at the floor, not caring that the boy in question and his friends hadn't completely left yet. "They wouldn't have even come if it wasn't for damn Danny."

"Hey!" Danny snarled at the boy, and for once, his green eyes lit up dangerously. He thrust a finger at his defiant friend. "I invited them to cover _your _ass, Odd. You know damn well Sissi will stoop low enough to make sure we would never have a chance at this band forming; _our _band forming. But all I have heard from you is 'me, me, me, Naomi, me' and claiming this band for your own. So do you know what? I don't want to be a part of this anymore, until you at least grow up and understand when someone is trying to help you." Hissing in frustration, he turned to the two other friends. "I'm off to the factory to help Jeremie. You two have fun with him." With that, Danny stormed out the room.

Odd was scowling where once the figure of the teen stood. "Who needs him anyways. Keyboards are unnecessary and we already have Yumi as a vocalist."

"Actually, Odd. Danny's right." Yumi stood from her seat, not wanting to be next to or meet the raging kid's eyes. "Nicholas is really good. I don't know why you can't just accept that."

"You of all people hate Sissi the most, Yumi! Are you saying that you are actually siding with the bitch?" Odd was seething.

Yumi stiffened and twirled to face Odd, her stare hard as stone. "No, but I'm not siding with someone that is acting just as worse as her. You _have _been really rude and childish lately, and that last comment only made your standing with me at the moment even worse." Odd flinched under Yumi's stare, quelling some of his ferocity. "I don't want to be part of group that I don't seem to have a say in. So you can forget having any kind of vocalist, Odd. Have fun with _your _band."

Ulrich sighed, rubbing his temples. "If Sissi did have a scheme in mind, it must have been to cause trouble within the group. I can't stand this." A horn then blasted through the room, startling the remaining trio. The source of the noise: a trombone wielding Jim. Ulrich groaned while Yumi began to smirk – looks like her and Danny will become a little bit richer soon.

* * *

"Aelita – sorry about the outage earlier, what's new?"

"You were right to be worried, Jeremie. XANA has woken up – I can feel the pulsations."

A short alarm went off as the scan Jeremie started minutes ago came to its conclusion. "The scan found the tower – it's in the Desert sector."

"I'm on my way!"

Jeremie ended the connection with her, looking at the keyboard. "Be careful Aelita."

The elevator doors began to move, and he looked up to see Danny standing there, irked. Jeremie sighed, returning back to the computer, typing away as Danny advanced to where he sat.

"Hey, Jeremie." The teen looked at the side monitor that held the scan results. "XANA did activate a tower then, huh."

"Yeah." Jeremie looked back up to his friend. "Please tell me the situation between you and Odd got better."

The tanned teen was silent for a moment. "I would be lying if I told you it did." He moved away from Jeremie, slumping down against a wall. "I don't know, Jeremie. He thinks I'm totally against whatever he believes in right now, but he hasn't realized his dreams would have been _crushed _if I didn't step in and act polite to Sissi, however much she doesn't need it." He sighed dejectedly. "Why can't things ever be easy."

"What I realized about you, Danny, is that you seem to be a peacekeeper. You don't walk a definite path of one story or the other. It's like science and religion." Jeremie swiveled his chair around. "Both sides disagree over everything, but only the great scientists have seemed to incorporate both into their beliefs, not dabbling too much in either subject. They kept the order, the peace. Just like what I see in you at school."

Danny's face muscled through a small chuckle. "You know, Jeremie, you might be right about that. I remember how when I was in America – " the smile down-turned "… I had friends that argued over food. One was ultra-recyclo-vegetarian, and the other was a meat connoisseur. You probably know what the arguments entailed."

Jeremie laughed as he began tracing XANA's plan on the supercomputer, oblivious to the emotional pain Danny was now trying to bounce back from. As the calculated route began to appear, Jeremie followed it closely until it reached its destination, opening another window detailing the building. With a gasp, Jeremie wiped his eyes just to make sure.

"Danny!" The green-eyed teen looked up to a visible upset Jeremie. "XANA is using that electricity to send it to the nuclear plant!"

Sudden fear washed over him. "What, is XANA out of his mind? That kind of power will destroy majority of France, _and_ the supercomputer! He's didn't think about the consequences to himself at all!"

"He?" Jeremie frowned at the supercomputer, staring at the reflection of his friend.

Danny gulped, realizing his mistake. "Yea, 'he'. I can't bring myself to say 'it', as the program basically has its own ability to make decisions like a sentient being. Kind of like iRobot, plus I can't really think of XANA as a girl…"

Jeremie nodded at the answer. "Regardless, this need to be taken care of before that pylon reaches its maximum capacity. Fast. I'll call the rest of the gang to get here."

"Put me in Lyoko now, Jeremie, so Aelita and I can have a head start."

With another nod, Jeremie began typing in the codes of virtualization as Danny made his way down to the scanners. Making his way to a tube, he looked over the machine, wondering once again if doing all of this was his right path. Richard had said so, but now an entire country was being threatened. However, seeing that the only way to end something this malicious was by either turning off Lyoko or entering the scanner, Danny stepped inside.

As the doors closed around him, Danny heard Jeremie's headset. "Transfer, Danny…"

* * *

Ulrich, Odd and Yumi stepped out of the elevator, and Jeremie sighed in relief. "Thank god you guys are here at last!" As the group made its way to Jeremie's side of the computer, the kid genius pointed at the screen. "This is what XANA is up to. Once that pylon reaches a million volts, he's going to unleash it all on the nuclear power plant."

Yumi's eyes widened. "That's going to create short circuit there, and – "

"Boom." Danny's voice came from the computer, full of dread.

"It's nuclear sabotage!" Yumi screamed. "Isn't this a little over our heads? Think about it, if we fail in Lyoko, the whole region will be wiped out! We've got to warn the authorities!"

"Are you crazy? There will be an inquiry, and we'll have to tell them everything! When they find out about XANA, they'll pull the plugs out!" Jeremie continued to shake his head in denial to Yumi's claim.

"And we'll lose Aelita, I know that! But we're talking about a nuclear disaster!"

Danny and Aelita were on their way to the tower together, keeping track of the conversation. Danny growled to himself. "XANA has really gone too far this time." He threw a look over to Aelita, making sure she was okay since she hadn't once spoken during the argument happening in the real world. "Aelita, are you okay?"

The pink digital girl opened her eyes and stared at him sadly. "I have seen photos of nuclear disasters while reading about your world. K-19, Chernobyl. They were all devastating." She looked down in distraught. "I don't want to be the reason why another terrible accident happens again."

Apparently, the group on the other side of the communication line heard this as well. "Thank you, Aelita!" Yumi exclaimed.

With a sigh, Jeremie now spoke into the mic. "Okay, while Yumi goes to alert the authorities, I'll send Odd and Ulrich your way."

Danny's ears pricked at a noise in the distance, hearing the scurrying of movement. "Make it quick, Jeremie, we already have company." Danny pulled on Aelita's hand and started running along the path of the pulsations, as the monsters continued their advance.

It was a quick gaze over his shoulder that allowed Danny just what they were facing. Four Kankrelats were scurrying in the distance behind them. Cursing, Danny plucked one of his long-bladed darts from his belt, and with precision, spun jump into the air, throwing one in their attacker's general direction. One of the virtual robots exploded as the dart met its target, causing the other three to stumble. However, they soon continued their trek to catch up with Danny and Aelita.

It was then Danny saw the bodies of Odd and Ulrich being virtualized right in front of them, dropping down onto the plateau.

The boys hadn't even finished returning to normal stance as Danny and Aelita ran past them. "Thanks for joining us, but this train isn't stopping just yet."

The two stragglers ducked as lasers came from the direction the group was currently running from, and Ulrich glared at the monsters. "Come on Odd, let's have some fun."

* * *

Yumi spotted more electricity leave a light post, most likely heading to the pylon, as she crawled out the manhole. Wasting no time, she sprinted through the school woods to the Administration building, all the way up to Delmas' office. The school had lost power, so the candle the principal's secretary had did not light the Japanese girl until it was too late – Yumi was already entering the office as the secretary told her to stop.

Inside was Delmas, Mrs. Hertz – the science teacher as well as the other personal advisor for the principal, and the scientist from the nuclear laboratory that had given the eighth grade presentation the boys listened to earlier that day. They were stunned by the sudden entrance, until Delmas spoke up. "What is the meaning of this, Mrs. Ishiyama?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but this is really important! You got to trust me with this. I know this is going to sound crazy, sir, but hear me out – the nuclear plant is in danger of blowing up!"

Stunned gazes stared back at her, until the smug scientist began to scowl. "Girl, that isn't much of a possibility. We have safety measures in place to make sure that doesn't happen. We even have safety measures for our safety measures. That is why we at the lab call it in-depth defense."

"But if I may, sir, how much of that runs on electricity?"

"Almost all of it, except the five foot concrete door that serves as the only portal between the core and the rest of the world."

"So what if the whole city's power is being drained into one pylon that will send a million volts to your security system? Wouldn't it just bypass all the security systems, having direct access to destroy the cooling process, and make the core overheat until it explodes?"

The scientist rolled his eyes and groaned in disgust as he turned back towards the staff. "Do all your kids think so preposterously?"

"But just look around you! Isn't the fact Paris is in blackness not enough of a clue?"

"Mrs. Ishiyama," Mr. Delmas warned, now feeling embarrassed. "I would suggest you leave and go back home, before I call your parents."

Yumi stared at them in stunned silence, until she made her way to the door and slammed it. The scientist rolled his eyes again, before murmuring. "This is the last time _I _ever give children presentations."

Outside the door, Yumi dialed Jeremie, tears forming in her eyes. "Jeremie," She choked. "The principal didn't believe me. What am I to do now?"

"_Well Yumi, it seems like police and electrical engineers are on the scene around the pylon." _The boy sighed; clearly not happy he still lost. "_You can try telling them; maybe you will have a better chance. But hurry though; the pylon is at 80 percent_."

Wiping her eyes, Yumi gave a firm nod and thanked the boy, before running to the scene.

* * *

Ulrich deflected another blast as the Kankrelats came closer. With a cry, he charged, slicing through one of the bodies, splitting itself in half as it exploded.

Odd too was jumping and weaving around the blasts, trying to focus his aim on one of the monsters. "Laser Arrow!" The tiny bullet-like arrow raced across the distance, closing in on its target. The Kankrelat stumbled backwards upon impact, as it too exploded.

"Alright, two down, one to go." The boys looked around, until realizing that it must of ran past them. Whipping around, they could see its small body closing in on their two friends, looking into the distance by a lake. "No!"

They were sprinting with their life trying to catch up to the monster. The Kankrelat had begun to charge its weapon, causing Danny to turn around, eyes widening.

It all happened in slow motion. As the weapon fired, Danny shoved Aelita out of the way, taking the blast to the chest. Seeing Danny beginning to fall into the lake, Odd screamed and jumped over the beast, trying to catch Danny before he was lost in the digital sea. The monster was charging its laser again, but a quick swipe of Ulrich's katana caused the Kankrelat to explode before it even had a chance to fire. However, it was too late.

Danny's body slipped into the random lake in the middle of the plateau, Odd sliding across the ground only to brush the teen's fingertips as he disappeared.

"No!" Odd, Aelita, and Ulrich cried out, the latter two rushing over to the spot where their friend once resided. Odd sat up on his knees, staring helplessly into the water. "He's gone." The cat-boy whispered. "I failed to save him. I never did apologize for my stupidity. Oh, Danny! Why!"

"Guys!" Jeremie's voice rang out. "The pylon is at 85 percent! Get going to that tower! And where's Danny?"

"He's gone! He fell into the digital sea!" Odd screamed at nothing. Everything was silent, until they heard a groan from below them.

"Ow, what happened… wait isn't that the lake above me?"

"Wait, what!?" Odd dove into the lake mirage, followed closely by Ulrich and Aelita.

Below them was another plateau, and not far from the activated tower sat their white-haired friend, rubbing his head in pain.

Odd landed and was the first to tackle Danny. "My god, bleach-head! Don't scare me like that!"

Danny grinned through the bear hug. "Nice to see you too, whiskers." He waited until the boy got off of him and helped him up. Rubbing his neck, Danny glanced at Odd, who also shuffled at the now awkward situation. "Look, Odd, I know that you thought that I was trying to destroy your band, but – "

The teen held up a paw. "Dan, stop. None of it was really your fault, it was mostly mine." He began to grin. "So, are we friends again?"

Danny smirked as well, before he gave Odd a bro-hug. "Of course, idiot."

"That's very sweet and all, _but the pylon is now 90 percent full so could you PLEASE hurry the hell up!?_"

"Okay, okay, no need to get your brain in a twist!" Odd yelled, and the four started running towards the activated tower again. However, as soon as they were within fifty meter from it, two Crabs stepped out from behind the rocks surrounding the port. One instantly shot Odd in the leg.

"Oh, Crab!" Odd grabbed his leg for a moment, before shaking it out. The two Crabs and the four warriors held their positions, until Ulrich turned to Aelita.

"It's you they're after, Aelita. You have to go!"

Aelita nodded quickly and ran back to the rock formations, and one of the Crabs instantly began to follow her. Odd dashed after it, leaving the other Crab with Ulrich and Danny. Both brought their weapons up into a defensive stance, and the Crab attacked.

Ulrich leapt out the way while Danny blocked the blast with the blade of the dart, but a second blast knocked the looser dart out of Danny's other hand. Seeing the hole in Danny's defense, the Crab shot another blast to Danny's exposed right flank, and being unable to block it with his left hand, Danny was devirtualized. Ulrich ran up from behind and jumped on top of the monster, stabbing the giant symbol on top of the head. Leaping off, he chased after the final Crab as the one he left behind exploded.

This targeted crab was now firing erratically at Aelita, trying to stop her from running. One blast might have been lucky to find its target, until Odd jumped in front of it, devirtualizing himself as well.

As both Danny and Odd returned to the supercomputer room, Jeremie looked over at them. "Thanks for saving Aelita, guys. But things are looking bad here: the pylon is at 95 percent. Soon, XANA will be able to attack the nuclear plant!"

* * *

Yumi arrived at the entrance of the school, the whole street littered with police cars, fire trucks, electrical company trucks, and a cherry picker. She soon spotted two official looking officers, and made her way over to them.

"We can't manage to cut the power. We've tried everything! I've never seen such a weird thing! How are you guys doing?" One of them talked into the walkie he was holding.

"Excuse me, guys?"

Both turned to look at her, surprised. "Young lady, what are you doing here? This area's dangerous!"

Yumi shook her head. "No, you have to listen to me first. All that electricity is going to be used to destroy not only Paris, but half of France!"

One of the officers looked at her incredulously, but the other's gaze remained firm. "Can you repeat that?"

"The electricity being stored in that pylon is going to be sent to the nuclear power plant down a ways from here! How can you just stand there looking at me like I'm crazy if you guys don't even know what's going on, if you don't even have a lead to the problem or what might happen when that thing becomes full!?"

"But how exactly do you know this?" The one that seemed to believe her asked. Yumi looked away, fisting her hands. Was she really ready to tell them about Lyoko?

* * *

Ulrich continued deflecting the Crab's blasts, until he started sprinting towards it. He stumbled as one of the blasts hit his shoulder, gaining a gasp from Aelita and "Are you crazy!?" from Odd in the real world, before he jumped on top of the final crab, thrusting his sword down into the middle of its symbol.

Ulrich jumped away as the crab exploded, clearing the area for Aelita to enter the tower. She made no hesitation to run inside and be flown up to the command center.

"Hurry Aelita, the pylon is at 99 percent!"

* * *

The pylon above Yumi and the two officers began to excessively spark, until a huge current of visible electricity jumped out of it, running quickly down the wires to the plant.

"Oh no!" Yumi cried out, watching in horror as the glow of electricity became distant. However, the glow suddenly disappeared. Her friends had done it in the nick of time.

The two officers turned back to her, faces in complete amazement. "How did you say you knew that was about to happen?"

Yumi gave a smirk, looking up into each of their faces. "I didn't."

And with that, she felt the cool feeling of the Return to the Past envelop her body.

* * *

"Okay, Nicholas! Let's go in three, four and – "

Pop alternative music blared out of the speakers that surrounded the corners of the wooden gym as the band practiced on an Evanescence song. Odd was strumming on his electrical guitar, Ulrich rocking out on his bass, and Nicki was bobbing his head to the tempo he was beating out for the group. Danny himself was on a keyboard, standing as he dialed out the melody and electronic sounds. Yumi stood next to him, holding a microphone to her mouth as he closed in on his.

"(Wake me up) Wake me up inside! (I can't wake up) Wake me up inside! (Save meeee) Call my name and save me from what I've done…"

Jim's trombone definitely added some flare to the piece; Danny laughed as the teacher swung the brass instrument around in the air. Leaning over to Yumi, he whispered. "Has Ulrich payed you yet?"

"Nope." Yumi smiled. "But he will though."

"Good." He smirked. "He's not getting out of this one."

The rather large audience for a band practice was clapping and cheering, with Jeremie, Sissi, and Herb sitting in the front. Sissi watched impassively at the group, until throwing a glare at a clapping Herb who quickly ceased his motions.

Odd made his way over to Yumi and Danny. "You were right, guys. Nicholas is a natural. I'm glad that I looked past the whole 'Sissi suggested him' thing."

"You mean you would rather have him over Naomi?" Danny shot at Odd, still grinning.

"I need to find love too, Danny. Not all of us find a girlfriend within the first month of being in France."

Danny shrugged his shoulders in compliance, and continued with the song without interruption until it ended. Cheers and claps then praised them, but Danny heard a familiar wolf whistle. He literally face palmed when he realized he had forgotten about his phone call.

"Crap, I forgot she was coming."

"Who, Danny?" Both Odd and Yumi, standing nearby, looked at him in confusion. Danny managed to slip off stage and sneak through the back door, only to be tackled to the ground by a body with a laugh of a girl he knew quite well.

"Hey, baby pop! I told you I would come see a performance, though did you really have to sneak out when you heard my whistle?"

"Ember." Danny growled, playfully throwing her off. Now that his face was off the ground, he could finally see just what Ember had done to disguise herself.

However, what he was expecting was not this. Her ghostly white skin was now a couple shades lighter tan than he was, and her flaming blue hair was now a long, flowing chocolate brown, still pulled together into a ponytail. She still had the makeup marks underneath her eyes, which he rubbed off with his thumb, but her clothes now consisted of a purple, less scandalous tank top and white short shorts. Brown vans that matched her hair now covered her feet.

"Ember, what the…"

"Shh!" She pressed a finger to his lips. "I'm _Amber_ in this form, remember? Geez, I hope you haven't slipped up already. It's only been a week."

"I haven't!" Danny exclaimed while looking away, blushing. "It's just…" He smiled, turning to look at her again. "You look amazing."

It was Ember's turn to blush now, a small tinge of green in her cheeks as she tried to control it. Both of them heard footsteps closing in on where they were sitting, and they turned to look to see who it was.

Not who, but whom. Half of the people leaving the gym had seen Danny with a new girl, and they had wondered over to see who it was. The girls hoped with crossed fingers that it wasn't his girlfriend, because she looked _flawless_. The guys hoped so too, because they hoped to have a piece of this definition of fine.

Leading the group was Sissi, and surprisingly enough, his friends were trailing right behind her. Danny stood up, and taking Ember's hand, pulled her up as well.

A silence emitted between the two groups until Sissi spoke in a thickening sweet voice to Danny. "Danny, who is this?"

Danny opened his mouth to answer before Ember beat him to it. "Shouldn't _you_ be introducing yourself to me, instead of trying to know who I am through him? I mean, hello, I'm standing right here too." The white-haired teen sighed, rolling his eyes. Why was Ember so provocative?

Sissi stiffened, before glaring at Ember. "_I _am Sissi, daughter of the Principal of this school, and I basically control everything that goes on here." There were some snorts of disapproval, and Sissi whipped around to see who did it. Everybody began to whistle and look in other directions.

However, Ember's voice quickly ceased all of that, twirling Sissi back around to her at the same time. "Well then, _I _am Amber." Danny could see Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremie's mouth drop, and he couldn't decide whether to laugh or scowl at their reactions. "I don't go to this school, so you don't control me. But I do control what I have, and that includes my boyfriend." She leaned into Danny, who instinctively wound an arm around her. It was more for the crowd's protection, really. Some girls almost fainted, boys grumbled at their luck, and Sissi was stuttering with wide eyes.

Yumi was one of the only girls that didn't seem to be internally dying. Instead, she was smiling. Pushing past Sissi, she came up to the couple, and brought out her hand. "Hey, I'm Yumi. Danny talks about you a lot, you know."

"Oh he does, huh?" A grin spread on his girlfriend's face, before looking up at him. "I've always wondered if I ever on his mind. Whenever I'm with him, all he seems to talk about is his friends."

Danny reddened again, looking away, and both of the girls laughed. The crowd soon dispersed, accepting the fact that both hotties were taken. Sissi awoken from her stupor, and realizing she had been beaten in her own game, she stormed off, grumbling to herself.

It was now just the group. Odd, being Odd, questioned how Danny was able to make such a catch, which earned him a slap on the back of the head by Danny, Ember, and Yumi. Everybody laughed as Odd now winced, rubbing the back of his head.

"So Danny, how did you two meet anyways?"

Danny almost jumped at the question. He hadn't thought about this before. But an evil look lit up Ember's eyes, and Danny knew he would regret not answering this one himself.

"I got this one, Danny. So, I found my fabulous dip stick the first week he was here, walking around the shopping district a couple miles away. He must have taken a cab. I was skipping school, obviously. It's the pearly white hair that drew my attention towards him. Just staring at the cute face made me realize I instantly liked him. But I had to think of something to start a conversation. So I came up to him and asked 'Hey cutie, where's the hair salon that can dye white hair that pure?' Well, Danny was so flustered at the time, unable to tell me that his hair was naturally that way, that I started laughing. It only became harder to breathe after his pants fell down in the middle of the street, making that innocent face even redder." The entire group started laughing at that, because it was true, after all. They had seen his boxers more than once.

"But I could tell he liked me back, but he was just shy about it. So I said 'Hey, why don't we go eat lunch at that pizza place?' His stomach growling was the reply I needed, so I pulled him through the crowd. And so on and so forth, he _finally_ admitted that he liked me at the end of lunch, to which I screamed 'Hell yea me too!' We might have gotten kicked out the restaurant, but it was definitely worth it." She patted his hand, looking at him in confirmation. Danny's face was the same tomato red in embarrassment that Ember had described his face as, but he only nodded and added "Yeah. As you can tell, she wears the pants in the relationship."

Ember chuckled. "Well someone has to, baby. It just so happens that I act way more masculine than you do."

The group laughed again, and Danny started to smirk. He stood up, and then picked up Ember and threw her over his shoulder. She yelped at her sudden position, and Danny spun around, smiling at his friends. "Okay guys, enough meet and greet. Amber needs to get back to Germany, even though it was cool for her to come see the band play for the day. Bye!"

Danny then strode away, a kicking and shouting Ember in his arm. Once out of vision, he quickly flew to the window of his room and phased through, dropping her on his bed. She landed with an "oomph", glaring up at her boyfriend until she began to smirk. "Oh, I see what's going on now. You want me all for yourself."

He half-glared at her, his cheeks still warm, but he remained floating there in front of her. "No, Ember. I just wanted to know how you were able to do all of this." He gestured to her body, before biting his lip. "And don't twist those words around, you know exactly what I mean right now."

"You're no fun." She pouted, but before she began smiling again. "Well, you see, when I saw you transform to your other self, I wondered if I can just change my skin and hair color too. You made it seem so easy, and it looked like it hardly to an effort for you. But for me, it nearly requires all my power to hold this. I can't even go invisible." She pouted. "Since for some reason I'm still physical, I guess I could be considered a zombie. Completely dead, moving around, ya know. I hate doing this. But for you…" She leaned forward trying to get closer to him. She almost fell, until he caught her. She smiled up at him, supported by the lean yet strong arms. "It's worth it."

Her skin faded to a pale white, her hair once again becoming emblazed in blue fire. Danny let go of the ghost as she began to float on her own once again.

"You know, that outfit may look good on you in your disguise, but you definitely need your old clothes back on now. And sorry for wiping off your mascara art."

She gave him a pointed look, and muttered "clueless" as she floated towards the window. She looked back at him. "You've been practicing, right?"

Automatically, green ectoplasmic fire danced around his hands, and Danny smirked. "That's not all I can do, either." With a snap of his fingers, green sparks danced from the appendages, sparkling in the air around him for a moment before disappearing.

"Show off." Ember muttered as well, but Danny caught the mumble this time. He flew straight at her, grabbing her tight into a hug.

"Ember, do you realize how much you make my life better? Knowing that there are ghosts that actually are not evil, planning world domination and everything? I always hoped I wouldn't turn out to be just like my parents said I would – a malicious ghost. But you and Richard keep proving them wrong."

Ember looked down at him, a smile wavering on her face. While she was happy Danny was getting attached, her heart was telling her what she was doing was wrong. What she was doing was wrong. She shouldn't be doing this, especially to Danny. It was almost as if she herself was becoming attached to him as well.

"Danny." Ember asked the younger teen hugging her. "Just who is Richard?"

Danny looked up at her, confused. "Another ghost who brought me here in the first place. Set me up with the school, got me everything. He basically started my new life."

"Is there anything special about him?"

Danny shrugged his shoulders, letting go of his girlfriend. "Not really. He can occasionally see the future."

Ember stiffened a little. A ghost that can see the future? He must be really powerful, almost Ancient… but why would an Ancient be guarding the boy? He was a hybrid alright, and they can become really powerful if they wanted to, but no one guarded Plasmius when he was first starting out. So why this boy?

Too many questions with no answers. She would have to continue to step lightly. After all, their relationship did just begin a month ago.

* * *

"Amber seemed nice." Jeremie stated, leaning back against the tree as the couple left in the distance.

"Nice? She basically gender-switched the roles of the relationship between the two!" Odd laughed. "I never imagined Danny being the _girlfriend_!"

"Odd, you don't even have a girlfriend. Who's lonelier?" Odd started to mutter incoherent things at his brown-haired friend.

"If you think about it though, it makes sense. Amber is really outgoing, headstrong, sharp tongued, doesn't back down from fights. She's a provoker. And then there's Danny, quiet, somewhat shy, and even though he has a sharp tongue and a dangerous mind, it's used only to quell situations when they get out of hand or someone steps out of line." Yumi shook her head and smiled. "They always say opposites attract."

The group was silent for a moment, until Ulrich spoke up again. "Does anybody still wonder about that kid with powers? I know Danny got a little upset about it and calling that guy a ghost, but I still can't help but wonder just who he is. It has to be someone young from Sceaux, there's no way the bear made it all the way to the city limit and then turned back to this way."

"Do ghosts even exist, guys?" Odd replied lazily, looking at the sky. "I'm not going to believe this until I see the kid myself. Besides, Danny really wanted to us to drop the topic."

"That was weird too. But at least he returned back to his normal self." Yumi looked over again to where Danny and Amber disappeared.

"He wouldn't have if I didn't visit him." Ulrich frowned, following Yumi's gaze. "Let's just say he doesn't want to believe the supernatural exists."

"But why, though?" The group turned to Ulrich, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not going to talk about the encounter, because I assume he told me in confidence."

"But we're his friends, too!" Jeremie shot back indignantly. "Any lies about ourselves might be harmful for the group."

"Just because I know why he doesn't want to believe doesn't mean he told me everything, Jeremie." Ulrich cast a worried face to the ground. "You can't talk to Danny unless you're willing to ignore the enigma known as his past. Sure, he'll bring up bits and pieces of it, but you can tell even he wants to ignore what was once him."

Another silence hung amongst the friends as a calm wind flowed through the center. It was Yumi to answer the thoughts of her peers. "You can't mean he's only here to start a new life, Ulrich. That's impossible."

Ulrich lifted his gaze up to meet hers. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

* * *

**10,870 words later...**

**oh look, back to posting chapters at 2AM again.  
**

**I'll hopefully write another chapter within a week. If I don't, well, just know one is coming. Finals and AP testing is soon approaching after all.**

**edit: Hopefully nobody read this in the past six hours. I just found like twenty obvious mistakes and awkward sentences. cheers to me looking like a dumbass (probably still do, with these short look overs)**


End file.
